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LM  Angeles,  CaL 

r 

LECTURES 


OX    THE 


SCIENCE  AND  ART  OF  EDUCATION, 


WITH  OTHER  LECTURES  AND  ESSAYS. 


BY  THE  LATE 


JOSEPH  PAYNE, 


TSX  FIRST  PROFESSOR  OF  THE   SCIENCE  AND  ART  OF  EDUCATION,  IN  THE  COLLEGE 
OF  PRECEPTORS,  LONDON. 


ElMTKD   BY   HIS   SOX, 

JOSEPH  FRANK  PAYNE,  M.D. 

FKLLOW  OF  MAGDALEN  COLLEGE,   OXFORD. 


"WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BT  THE  REV.  R.  H.  QUICK,  M.A.,  TRIN.  COLL. 
CAMB.      AUTHOB  OF  "ESSAYS  ON  EDUCATIONAL  REFORMERS." 


BOSTON : 
WILLARD    SMALL, 

1883. 


BOSTON  : 
PRINTED  BY  CARL  H.  HEINTZEMANN, 

50  SCHOOL  STREET. 


L 


PREFACE. 


THE  lectures  and  pamphlets  included  in  this  volume  relate  chiefly 
\  to  the  Theory  or  Science  of  Education,  and  form  the  greater  part 
of  Mr.  Payne's  actually  published  papers  on  Educational  sub- 
jects. Besides  these,  he  published  lectures  on  Frobel,  Jacotot 
and  Pestalozzi,  which  are  omitted  from  this  collection.  They  will 
form,  with  some  unpublished  lectures,  a  volume  on  the  History  of 
Education,  which  may,  it  is  hoped,  if  sufficient  encouragement  be 
met  with,  follow  this. 

It  is  thought  that  the  papers  here  collected  have  sufficient  unity 
and  completeness  to  give  an  adequate  idea  of  Mr.  Payne's  prin- 
ciples as  a  teacher.  If  account  be  taken  of  the  dates  at  which 
they  were  severally  written,  it  will  be  seen  that  they  exhibit,  with 
considerable  diversity  of  illustration  and  some  slight  variance  in 
u  points  of  detail,  the  persistence  of  certain  dominant  principles, 
*  the  advocacy  and  enforcement  of  which  was  Mr.  Payne's  chief 
object  in  his  contributions  to  the  cause  of  education.  Nearly  all 
VJ  of  those  lectures  were  composed  during  the  last  few  years  of  the 
Author's  life  ;  but  it  has  been  thought  that  some  interest  would 
attach  to  the  re-publication  of  Mr.  Payne's  earliest  educational 
essay,  "The  Exposition  of  Jacotot's  Method,"  which  was  indeed 
his  eai'liest  published  work  on  any  subject.  This  essay,  written 
when  the  Author  was  only  23  years  of  age,  shows  how  early  he 
had  adopted  and  made  his  own  those  principles  which  he  advocated 
in  later  life. 

A  word  of  explanation  may  be  desirable  with  respect  to  two 
short  documents,  not  previously  published,  included  in  this  volume. 


yi  PREFACE. 

One,  the  paper  entitled  "  Principles  of  the  Science  of  Education" 
(p.  95),  was  printed  for  the  use  of  students  attending  the  Lectmvs 
on  Education  delivered  by  Mr.  Payne  as  Professor  at  the  College 
of  Preceptors.  Its  composition  was  the  result  of  much  thought 
and  pains,  and  it  may  be  taken  to  present  in  an  aphoristic  form, 
the  writer's  most  mature  conception  of  the  educational  problem, 
viewed  in  the  light  of  natural  development.  The  other,  the 
"  Proposal  for  Endowing  a  Professorship  of  Education  "  (p.  329), 
was  circulated,  not  by  the  Author,  but  by  the  Council  of  the 
College  of  Preceptors.  The  scheme,  at  that  time  much  less 
familiar  to  the  public  ear  than  it  has  since  become,  was  one  in 
which  Mr.  Payne  always  took  a  deep  interest ;  an  interest  which 
he  showed  not  only  by  the  self-denying  earnestness  with  which  he 
performed  the  duties  of  a  Professor,  but  by  the  bequest  of  a  sum 
of  money  to  the  Endowment  Fund ;  and  of  a  valuable  library  of 
educational  books,  which  he  had  been  for  some  years  collecting, 
to  the  College  of  Preceptors. 

The  Editor  has  to  thank  the  Council  of  the  College  of  Precep- 
tors for  giving  permission  to  reprint  some  of  the  lectures  in  this 
volume;  and  Messrs  Kegan  Paul  &  Co.,  for  facilitating  the  re- 
publication  of  the  Preface  and  Supplement  to  Miss  Youmans' 
work  on  Botany. 

Last  and  above  all,  thanks  are  due  to  the  Rev.  R.  H.  Quick, 
not  only  for  the  introduction  which  he  has  kindly  written,  but  also 
for  valuable  aid  and  advice  in  the  selection  and  editing  of  the 
volume. 


J.  F.  PAYNE. 


78,  WIMPOLE  STREET,  LONDON, 
June  1st,  1880. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

1 .  INTRODUCTION,  by  the  REV.  R.  H.  QUICK 3 

2.  OBITUARY  NOTICE,  from  the  "  Educational  Times  "        .  7 

3.  LIST  OF  MR.  PAYNE'S  PUBLISHED  WORKS       ....  11 

4.  LECTURES  ON  THE  SCIENCE  AND  ART  OF  EDUCATION     .  13 

I.    Theory  of  Education        17 

II.    Practice  of  Education 43 

III.    Educational  Methods 63 

List  of  Books  on  Education .  89 

5.  PRINCIPLES  OF  THE  SCIENCE  OF  EDUCATION   ....  95 
G.    THE  TRAINING  AND  EQUIPMENT  OF  THE  TEACHER  FOE 

HIS  PROFESSION 103 

7.  THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  TEACHER    .  125 

8.  THEORIES   OF    TEACHING  WITH  THEIR  CORRESPONDING 

PRACTICE 141 

9.  THE  SCIENCE  AND  ART  OF  EDUCATION,  an  Introductory 

Lecture          159 

10.  THE  TRUE  FOUNDATION  OF  SCIENCE  TEACHING    .     .     .  185 

11.  A  PREFACE  AND    SUPPLEMENT  TO  AN  ESSAY   ON  THE 

CULTURE  OF  THE  OBSERVING  POWERS  OF  CHILDREN, 

by  ELIZA  A.  YOUMANS       207 

12.  THE    CURRICULUM  OP  MODERN   EDUCATION,   AND  THE 

RESPECTIVE  CLAIMS  OF  CLASSICS  AND  SCIENCE  TO  BE 

REPRESENTED  IN  IT  CONSIDERED 231 

13.  ON  THE  IMPORTANCE  AND  NECESSITY  OF  IMPROVING  OUR 

ORDINARY  METHODS  OF  SCHOOL  INSTRUCTION        .     .  281 


Viii  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

14.  ON  THE  PAST,  PRESENT  AND  FUTURE  OF  THE  COLLE«.K 

OF  PRECEITORS 305 

15.  PROPOSAL  FOR  THE  ENDOWMENT  OF  A  PROFESSORSHIP  ;>i 

THE  SCIENCE  AND  ART  v  OF  EDUCATION  IN  CONNECTION 
WITH  THE  COLLEGE  OF  PRECEPTORS 327 

16.  A  COMPENDIOUS  EXPOSITION  OF  JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF 

EDUCATION 333 


INTRODUCTION,  OBITUARY  NOTICE, 


AND 


LIST  OF  MR.  PAYNE'S  PUBLISHED  WORKS. 


INTRODUCTION, 

BY  THE  REV.  R.  H.  QUICK. 


A  FEW  words  of  introduction  seem  necessar}r  to  tell  the  general 
reader  what  it  concerns  him  to  know  about  the  author  of  this 
volume,  and  his  practical  acquaintance  with  education. 

At  an  early  age  Mr.  Payne  became  an  assistant  in  a  London 
school ;  and,  as  he  himself  maintained,  he  would  have  fallen  into 
the  ordinary  groove  of  routine  teaching  had  he  not  accidentally 
become  acquainted  with  the  principles  of  the  French  reformer 
Jacotot,  and  been  fired  with  the  enthusiasm  which  Jacotot  suc- 
ceeded in  kindling  far  and  wide  both  in  his  own  country  and  in 
Belgium.  In  England  Mr.  Payne  was  the  first  (in  importance,  if 
not  in  time)  of  Jacotot's  disciples  ;  and  finding  that  the  new  prin- 
ciples entirely  changed  his  notion  of  the  teacher's  office,  and 
turned  routine  into  a  course  of  never-endiug  experiment  and 
discovery,  he  forthwith  set  about  preaching  the  new  educational 
evangel.  Though  a  very  young  man  and  with  small  resources,  he 
published  an  account  of  Jacotot's  system  (1830),  and  gave  public 
lectures  to  arouse  teachers  to  a  sense  of  its  importance.  The 
system  interested  a  lad}',  who  induced  Mr.  Payne  to  undertake  the 
instruction  of  her  own  children :  and  this  family  became  the 
nucleus  of  a  large  school  under  Mr.  Payne's  management  at 
Denmark  Hill.  Some  years  afterwards,  Mr.  Payne  established 
himself  at  the  Mansion  House,  Letherhead,  where  he  was  still  very 
successful  as  a  schoolmaster,  and  where  he  acquired  the  means  of 
retiring,  after  thirty  years'  work,  from  the  profession.  In  his 
school-keeping,  and  in  all  his  undertakings,  even  his  studies,  Mr. 
Payne  was  greatly  assisted  by  his  wife,  a  lady  who  had  herself  been 
engaged  in  education,  and  who  entered  into  his  pursuits  with  the 
sympathy  of  the  intellect  as  well  as  of  the  heart,  till  she  was  called 
away,  only  a  few  months  before  her  husband.  Believing  as  I  do 
that  Mr.  Payne's  labors  have  had  and  will  have  a  great  influence 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

oil  education  in  this  country,  I  feel  bound  to  bear  this  testimony 
to  her  by  whom  he  was  so  greatly  assisted. 

We  have  seen  that  Mr.  Payne  became  early  in  life  an  enthu- 
siastic theorist.  We  most  of  us  have  our  enthusiasms  when  we  are 
young,  and  teachers  like  other  people,  at  first  expect  to  do  great 
things,  and  make  great  advances  on  the  practice  of  their  pre- 
decessors. But  as  they  grow  older  the  enthusiasms  die  out.  All 
sorts  of  concessions  to  use  and  wont  are  enforced  upon  them  ;  and 
by  degrees  they  find  there  is  much  to  be  said  for  the  usual  methods. 
These  methods  are,  for  the  master  at  all  events,  the  easiest ;  and 
they  have  this  great  advantage,  that  they  lead  to  the  expected 
results.  Changes  might  lead  to  unexpected  results,  and  these 
would  not  find  favor  with  parents.  If  we  do  well  what  other 
people  are  doing,  and  doing  in  some  cases  very  badly,  we  shall 
please  everybody ;  and  why  not  be  satisfied  with  that  which 
satisfies  our  employers?  In  this  way  we  find  excuses  for  our 
failing  energ}',  and  by  the  time  we  have  experience  enough  to 
judge  what  reforms  are  possible,  we  have  settled  down  into  indolent 
contentment  with  things  as  they  are.  To  this  law  of  the  decay  of 
enthusiasms  Mr.  Payne's  career  shows  us  a  striking  exception.  In 
early  life  an  interest  in  principles  had  changed  his  occupation  from 
a  dull  routine  to  an  absorbing  intellectual  pursuit,  and  as  he  went 
on  he  found  tuat  his  study -of  theory  instead  of  making  him  "  un- 
practical" gave  him  great  practical  advantages.  His  pupils  did 
not  fail  in  ordinary  acquirements ;  and  their  memory,  even  for 
Latin  Grammar,  was  developed  without  any  assistance  from  the 
cane.  When  I  first  became  acquainted  with  Mr.  Payne,  he  had 
retired  from  his  school,  and  I  do  not  know  how  far  he  succeeded 
in  canning  out  his  principles.  That  they  had  constant  influence 
over  him,  no  one  who  knew  him  would  for  an  instant  doubt ;  but 
probably,  like  all  high-minded  men,  he  fell  far  short  of  his  own 
ideal.  But  the  more  he  taught  himself  and  the  more  he  had  to 
direct  other  teachers,  the  stronger  grew  his  conviction  that  educa- 
tion should  be  studied  scientifically,  that  principles  should  direct 
practice,  and  further  that  the  main  cause  of  weakness  in  our  school 
system  lay  in  our  teachers'  ignorance  of  the  nature  of  their 
calling,  and  of  the  main  truths  about  it  already  established.  The 
consequence  was  that  when  after  many  years  of  labor  he  found 
himself  able  to  spend  his  remaining  days  as  he  chose,  he  set  to 
work  with  an  enthusiasm  and  energy  and  self-devotion  rarely  found 
even  in  young  men,  to  arouse  teachers  to  a  sense  of  their  deficien- 
cies and  to  be  a  pioneer  in  the  needed  science  of  education.  It 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

was.  I  believe,  mainly  owing  to  his  influence,  and  to  that  of  his 
friend  Mr.  C.  H.  Lake,  that  the  College  of  Preceptors  instituted 
an  examination  for  teachers,  the  first  held  in  this  country.  In 
1*72,  the  College  took  another  important  step,  and  appointed  the 
first  English  Profcssor  of  the  Science  and  Art  of  Education. 
The  Professor  appointed  was  Mr.  Pa}-ne,  and  no  man  could  have 
been  found  with  higher  qualifications.  He  had  always  been  a 
diligent  student,  and  had  a  much  wider  culture  than  is  usually  found 
in  schoolmasters,  or  indeed  in  any  class  of  hardworked  men,  and 
his  habits  of  reading  and  writing  now  gave  him  great  advantages. 
But  these  would  have  been  of  little  avail  had  he  not  possessed  the 
main  requisite  for  the  professorship  as  few  indeed  possessed  it, 
viz.,  a  profound  belief  in  the  present  value  and  future  possibilities 
of  the  Science  of  Education.  No  work  could  have  been  more 
congenial  to  him  than  endeavoring  to  awaken  in  young  teachers 
that  spirit  of  inquiry  into  principles,  which  he  had  found  the  salt 
of  his  own  life  in  the  schoolroom.  And  short  as  his  tenure  of  the 
Professorship  unhappily  proved,  he  succeeded  in  his  endeavor,  and 
left  behind  him  students  who  have  learnt  from  him  to  make  their 
practice  as  teachers  more  beneficial  to  others  and  infinitely  more 
pleasurable  to  themselves,  by  investigating  the  theory  which  not 
only  explains  right  practice,  but  also  points  out  the  way  to  it. 

That  interest  in  education  as  a  science  and  an  art  which  was 
awakened  by  the  delivery  of  Mr.  Payne's  lectures,  will  one  day,  I 
trust,  be  more  widely  spread  by  their  publication.  The  papers  in 
this  volume  have  already  appeared  at  different  times,  and  they  are 
now  for  the  first  time  collected.  But  there  are  numerous  lectures 
which  still  remain  in  MS. 

Mr.  Payne  always  spoke-of  Jacotot  as  "  his  master,"  and  in  one 
of  the  paradoxes  of  Jacotot  is  contained  the  principle  which  takes 
the  leading  place  in  Mr.  Pa\-ne's  teaching.  Jacotot  exposed  him- 
self to  the  jeers  of  schoolmasters  by  asserting  that  a  teacher  who 
understood  his  business  could  "teach  what  he  did  not  know." 
By  teacher  is  usually  understood  one  who  communicates  knowledge. 
This  meaning  of  the  word,  however,  was  unsatisfactory  to  Jacotot 
and  to  his  English  disciple.  What  is  knowledge  ?  Knowledge  is 
the  abiding  result  of  some  action  of  the  mind.  Whoever  causes 
the  mind  of  pupils  to  take  the  necessary  action  teaches  the  pupils, 
and  this  is  the  only  kind  of  teaching  which  Mr.  Payne  would  hear 
of.  Thus  we  see  that  Jacotot' s  paradox  points  to  a  new  conception 
of  the  teacher's  function.  The  teacher  is  not  one  who  "  tells,"  but 
one  who  sets  the  learner's  mind  to  work,  directs  it  and  regulates 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

its  rate  of  advance.  In  order  to  "tell,"  one  needs  nothing 
beyond  a  form  of  words  which  the  pupils  may  reproduce  with  or 
without  comprehension.  But  to  "teach,"  in  Mr.  Payne's  sense 
of  the  word,  a  vast  deal  more  was  required,  an  insight  into  the 
working  of  the  pupil's  mind,  a  power  of  calling  its  activities  into 
play,  and  of  directing,  them  to  the  needful  exercise,  a  perception 
of  results,  and  a  knowledge  how  to  render  those  results  permanent. 
Such  was  Mr.  Payne's  notion  of  the  teacher's  office,  and  this 
notion  lies  at  the  root  of  all  that  he  said  and  wrote  about  instruc- 
tion. It  would  be  useless  to  attempt  to  decide  how  far  the  concep- 
tion was  original  with  him.  "  Ever3'thing  reasonable  has  been 
thought  alread}',"  says  Goethe.  Mr.  Payne,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  always  eager  to  declare  his  obligations  to  Jacotot.  The  same 
notion  of  the  teacher  is  found  in  the  utterances  of  other  men, 
especially  of  Pestalozzi  and  Frobel.  But  when  such  a  conception 
becomes  part  and  parcel  of  a  mind  like  Mr.  Payne's,  it  forthwith 
becomes  a  fresh  force,  and  its  influence  spreads  to  others. 

To  elevate  the  teacher's  conception  of  his  calling  was  the  task 
to  which  Mr.  Payne  devoted  the  latter  years  of  his  life  ;  and  those 
who  knew  him  best,  desire  to  see  his  influence  extended  by  this 
and  other  publications  of  his  writings,  that  he  may  still  be  a 
worker  in  the  cause  which  he  had  at  heart. 

January,  1880.  R.  H.  QUICK. 


MR.  JOSEPH  PAYNE. 


The  subjoined  Obituary  Notice  appeared  shortly  after  Mr.  Payne's 
death,  in  the  Educational  Times  for  June  1st,  1876. 

IT  would  be  difficult  to  over-estimate  the  loss  which  the  cause  of 
educational  progress  and  reform  has  sustained  by  the  recent  death 
of  Mr.  Joseph  Paj-ne.  At  the  present  juncture,  when  so  great  an 
impetus  has  been  given  to  popular  education,  and  such  rapid 
strides  are  being  taken,  not  always  with  the  clearest  light,  or  in 
the  wisest  direction,  and  when  the  guidance  and  influence  of  men 
of  wide  experience,  careful  thought,  and  untiring  devotion,  are  more 
than  ever  necessary,  few  could  be  named  whose  place  it  would  be 
more  difficult  to  supply. 

Those  who  had  the  privilege  of  knowing  Mr.  Pa}-ne  are  aware 
that,  both  as  a  theorist  and  as  a  practical  teacher,  he  had  made  it 
the  business  of  his  life  to  expose  the  futility  of  the  unintelligent 
routine  with  which  educators  have  too  commonly  contented  them- 
selves, and  to  rouse  teachers  to  replace  it  by  methods  which  would 
call  the  expanding  faculties  of  the  young  scholar  into  healthful 
activity,  which  would  promote  and  regulate  their  development  by 
well-considered  and  sympathetic  guidance,  and  would  direct  their 
action  to  the  best  and  wisest  ends.  In  short,  he  strove  to  make 
education  a  reality  instead  of  a  pretence.  "With  this  view  he 
constantly  insisted  on  the  too  often  forgotten  truth,  that  the  only 
teaching  that  is  worthy  of  the  name  is  that  which  enables  the 
learner  to  teach  himself,  that  which  awakens  in  him  the  desire  for 
knowledge,  and  guides  him  by  the  surest  and  readiest  methods 
to  its  attainment.  Such  teaching  proceeds  upon  intelligent  and 
scientific  principles,  and  demands  of  the  teacher  something  differ- 
ent from  the  hum-drum  giving  of  routine  lessons.  As  the  obvious 
corollary  of  this,  Mr.  Payne  urged  upon  teachers  the  necessity  of 
mastering  the  true  principles  that  should  guide  them  in  the  exercise 
of  their  profession,  and  of  rousing  themselves  to  the  perception 
of  the  truth  that  the  teacher  must  learn  how  to  teach  ;  that  he  must 
not  only  know  thoroughly  and  fundamentally  that  ichich  he  teaches, 


8  OBITUARY    NOTICE. 

but  must  study  well  the  laws  which  govern  the  exercise  and 
development  of  the  faculties  of  those  whom  he  teaches ;  that  he 
must  know  both  the  lesson  and  the  scholar,  and  the  means  by 
which  the  two  may  be  brought  into  fruitful  contact.  These  aims 
Mr.  Payue  pursued  throughout  his  life,  unobtrusively  indeed, 
yet  with  single-minded  enthusiasm,  and  unswerving  tenacity  of 
purpose. 

Mr.  Payne  was  born  at  Bury  St.  Edmund's  on  the  2nd  of 
March,  1808.  His  early  education  was  very  incomplete,  and  it 
was  not  till  he  was  about  fourteen  years  old  that,  at  a  school  kept 
by  a  Mr.  Freeman,  he  came  under  the  instruction  of  a  really  com- 
petent teacher.  This  advantage,  however,  he  did  not  enjoy  very 
long.  At  a  comparatively  early  age  he  was  under  the  necessit}'  of 
getting  his  own  living,  which  he  did  partly  by  teaching,  partly  by 
writing  for  the  press.  His  life  at  this  period  was  laborious,  and 
not  altogether  free  from  privations.  He  found  time,  however,  for 
diligent  study,  and  numerous  extract  and  common-place  books 
testify  to  the  wide  range  of  his  reading  in  the  ancient  classics  and 
in  English  literature. 

When  he  was  about  twenty  years  of  age  he  became  a  private 
tutor  in  the  family  of  Mr.  David  Fletcher,  of  Camberwell.  His 
exceptional  aptitude  for  teaching,  and  his  energetic  devotion  to 
study  attracted  the  appreciation  and  sympath}'  of  the  mother  of 
his  young  pupils.  The  children  of  one  or  two  neighbors  were 
admitted  to  share  the  benefits  of  his  instruction,  and  thus  a  srhall 
preparator}'  school  sprang  up.  Under  his  zealous  and  able  direc- 
tion it  increased  in  numbers  and  consideration,  till  it  expanded 
into  the  important  school  known  as  "  Denmark  Hill  Grammar 
School,"  carried  on  in  a  fine  old  mansion  (recently  demolished)  on 
Denmark  Hill.  Here,  in  partnership  with  Mr.  Fletcher,  he  con- 
tinued his  labors  for  some  years. 

In  1837  Mr.  Payne  married  Miss  Dyer,  a  lady  who  was  at  the 
head  of  a  girls'  school  of  high  repute,  which  she  continued  to 
cany  on  for  some  time.  In  her  he  had  the  happiness  of  obtaining, 
as  the  partner  of  his  life,  n  lady  of  great  energy  of  character,  of 
tact  and  method  in  the  conduct  of  affairs,  and  admirably  suited  to 
sympathise  with  him  in  the  aims  and  ambitions  of  his  life. 

Mr.  Payne's  connection  with  the  school  at  Camberwell  con- 
tinued till  the  year  1845,  when  he  established  himself  indepen- 
dently at  the  Mansion  House,  Letherhead.  Here  he  labored  with 
great  energy  and  success  for  about  eighteen  years,  his  school  taking 
rank  as  one  of  the  very  first  private  schools  in  this  country.  In 


OBITUARY    NOTICE.  9 

1863,  having  acquired  a  modest  competence,  he  withdrew  from  the 
active  cares  of  his  profession.  None  the  less,  however,  did  he 
continue  to  devote  himself  strenuously  to  the  cause  of  educational 
progress.  He  took  a  lively  and  active  interest  in  several  of  the 
most  important  movements  having  this  for  their  purpose,  such 
(for  example)  as  the  "Women's  Education  Union,"  and  the 
"  Public  Girls'  School  Company,"  the  improvement  of  women's 
education  having  long  been  one  of  his  most  cherished  objects. 
By  lectures,  and  through  the  press,  and  b}'  his  active  and  energetic 
participation  in  the  operations  earned  on  by  the  College  of  Pre- 
ceptors, he  still  zealously  pursued  the  great  object  of  his  life — the 
advancement  of  education  by  the  improvement  of  the  methods, 
and  the  elevation  of  the  character  and  status  of  the  teacher.  The 
Kindergarten  system  of  Frobel  was  one  in  which  he  took  a  keen 
interest.  He  studied  profoundly  the  methods  and  systems  of  all 
who  have  obtained  celebrity  as  educators,  and  Pestalozzi  and 
Jacotot  had  in  him  a  warm  admirer  and  an  able  expositor.  When 
a  Professorship  of  the  Science  and  Art  of  Education  (the  first  of 
its  kind)  was  established  bj"  the  College  of  Preceptors,  he  was 
unanimously  elected  to  occupy  that  Chair. 

Throughout  his  life  Mr.  Payne  was  a  hard  student.  Till  but  a 
few  months  before  his  death,  he  was  wont  to  continue  his  work 
into  the  small  hours  of  the  morning.  He  was  especially  interested 
in  the  history  of  the  development  of  the  English  language,  and  the 
characteristics  of  the  different  dialects,  and  more  particularly  in 
the  history  of  the  Norman-French  element.  This  led  him  to  a 
rather  extensive  study  of  the  dialects  of  French,  and  the  history 
of  the  French  language  generally.  A  paper  of  great  value  by  him 
on  these  subjects  appears  in  the  "  Transactions  of  the  Philological 
Society,"  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  and 
active  members. 

Mr.  Payne's  life  had  been  too  laboriously  occupied  to  leave  time 
for  the  composition  of  any  large  literary  works  ;  but  his  little 
volume  of  "  Select  Poetry  for  Children"  is  one  of  the  very  best 
of  its  class,  and  his  "  Studies  in  English  Prose,"  and  "  Studies 
in  English  Poetry,"  have  met  with  a  wide  appreciation.  Among 
various  lectures  and  pamphlets  published  by  him,  may  be  men- 
tioned : — "  Three  Lectures  on  the  Science  and  Art  of  Education," 
delivered  at  the  College  of  Preceptors  in  1871.  "The  True 
Foundation  of  Science  Teaching,"  a  lecture  delivered  at  the  Col- 
lege of  Preceptors  in  1872.  "The  Importance  of  the  Training  of 
the  Teacher."  "The  Science  and  Art  of  Education,"  an  iutro- 


10  OBITUARY    NOTICE. 

ductory  lecture  delivered  at  the  College  of  Preceptors.  *'  Pesta- 
lozzi,"  a  lecture  delivered  at  the  College  of  Preceptors  in  1875. 
"  Frobel  and  the  Kindergarten  System,"  a  lecture  delivered  at  the 
College  of  Preceptors.  "  The  Curriculum  of  Modern  Education." 
The  death  of  his  wife,  which  occured  in  the  autumn  of  last  year, 
probably  aggravated  the  symptoms  of  a  malady  of  some  standing, 
which  terminated  on  April  30th,  1876,  a  life  of  singular  purity 
and  nobleness  of  aim,  of  strenuous  and  uuintermittiug  industry, 
and  of  unselfish  devotion  to  high  aud  worthy  ends. 


LIST   OF   MR.    PAYNE'S    CHIEF  PUBLISHED 
WORKS,  PAMPHLETS  AND  PAPERS. 


1.  Principles  and  Practice  of  Jacotot's  System  of  Education, 

1830. 

2.  Epitome  Historiae  Sacrae.     A  Latin  reading-book  on  Jacotot's 

System,  1830. 

3.  Select  Poetry  for  Children,  First  Edition,  1839  (?) 

4.  Studies  in  English  Poetry,  First  Edition,  1845. 

5.  Studies  in  English  Prose,  First  Edition,  1868. 

6.  The  Curriculum  of  Modern  Education,  1866. 

7.  Three  Lectures  on  the  Science  and  Art  of  Education,  delivered 

at  the  College  of  Preceptors  in  1871. 

8.  The  Training  and  Equipment  of  the  Teacher  for  his  Profession. 

College  of  Preceptors,  April  14th,  1869. 

9.  Theories  of  Teaching  with  their  corresponding  practice.    Pro- 

ceedings of  Social  Science  Association,  1868-69. 

10.  On  the  Past,  Present,  and  Future  of  the  College  of  Preceptors. 

"  Educational  Times,"  July,  1868. 

11.  On  the  Importance  and  NecessitjT  of  improving  our  ordinary 

methods  of    School  Instruction.      Proceedings  of   Social 
Science  Association,  1871-1872. 

12.  Preface  and  Supplement  to  English  Edition  of  Miss  Youmans* 

"  Essay  on    the   Culture   of    the    Observing    Powers    of 
Children,"  1872. 

13.  The  Importance  of  the  Training  of  the  Teacher,  1873. 

14.  The  true  Foundation  of  Science  Teaching,  1873. 

15.  The  Science  and  Art  of  Education  ;    an  introductory  lecture, 

1874. 

16.  Pestalozzi ;    a  lecture  delivered  at  the  College  of  Preceptors, 

1875. 

17.  Fro'bel  and  the  Kindergarten  System.     Third  Edition,  1876. 

18.  Jacotot :   his  Life  and  System  of  Universal  Instruction :    a 

lecture  delivered  at  the  College  of  Preceptors,  1867. 


12  LIST   OF   PUBLISHED   WORKS. 

19.  Arnold  ;  a  lecture  delivered  at  the  College  of  Preceptors. 

20.  Education  in  the  United  States.    "  British  Quarterly  Review," 

1868. 

21.  The   Higher   Education   of    the    United    States.      "  British 

Quarterly  Review,"    1870. 

22.  Eton.     "  British  Quarterly  Review,"  1867. 

23.  The  Norman  Element  in  the  Spoken  and  Written  English  of 

the  12th,  13th,  and  14th  Centuries.     u  Proceedings  of  the 
Philological  Society." 

24.  A  visit  to  German  Schools,  in  the  autumn  of  1874.    Published 

after  the  author's  death,  1876. 


THE 


SCIENCE  AND  ART  OF  EDUCATION. 


NOTE. 

The  three  following  Lectures  formed  part  of  a  volume,  published  in  1872, 
with  this  title  — 

Lectures  on  Education,  delivered  before  the  members  of  the  College  of  Pre- 
ceptors in  the  year  1871 ;  and  published  by  order  of  the  Council.  London, 
printed  for  the  College  of  Preceptors,  by  C.  F.  Hodgson  and  Son,  Gough 
Square,  Fleet  Street. 

Their  object  is  best  explained  in  the  prefatory  notice  prefixed  to  the 
volume,  here  reprinted. 

"Among  the  special  objects  contemplated  by  the  establishment  of  the 
' '  College  of  Preceptors  in  its  general  purpose  '  of  promoting  sound  learning 
"  and  advancing  the  interests  of  education,'  that  of  '  instituting  lectureships 
"on  any  subject  connected  with  the  theory  and  Practice  of  Education' 
"  holds  a  prominent  place.  In  order  to  carry  out  this  intention,  the  Council 
" have  recently  instituted  lectureships  on  education;  and  the  present  vol- 
"ume,  containing  the  lectures  delivered  before  the  Members  during  the 
"year  1871,  is  the  result  of  their  arrangements.  It  will  be  followed  by 
"others  in  due  course. 

"  It  is  only  necessary  to  add,  that  while  allowing  the  lecturers  full  liberty 
"  for  the  expression  of  individual  opinions  on  various  points  of  the  theory 
"of  education,  the  Council  do  not  hold  themselves  responsible  for  such 
"opinions." 

COLLEGE  OF  PEECEPTOKS, 

42,  Queen  Square,  London,  W.O. 
April,  1872. 


CONTENTS. 


LECTUBE  I. 
THE  THEORY  OB  SCIENCE  OF  EDUCATION. 

Correlation  of  the  Theory  or  Science  and  the  Practice  or  Art  of  Educa- 
tion. —  Distinction  between  Education  and  Instruction.  — The  unconscious 
natural  education  of  the  young  child,  to  be  continued  by  the  constructive 
training  of  the  teacher.  — The  idea  of  a  Theory  of  Education  involves  the 
preliminary  training  of  the  teacher  himself.  —  Supposed  antagonism  of 
Theory  and  Practice  —  of  Science  and  Koutlne.  —  The  scientific  educator 
applies  the  principles  of  Physiology,  Psychology,  and  Ethics  to  his  profes- 
sion. He  also  knows  and  profits  by  the  experience  of  the  great  masters  of 
his  art.  —  Three-fold  nature  of  the  child  to  be  kept  in  view  and  harmoniously 
trained.  —  Physical,  Intellectual,  and  Moral  Education.  —  The  school  is  what 
the  teacher  makes  it :  he  is  what  his  own  training  makes  him.  —  "  As  is  the 
teacher,  so  is  the  school,"  applied  to  the  general  results  of  teaching  in 
England,  as  shown  by  various  Commissions.  — What  is  the  remedy? — The 
training  and  equipment  of  the  teacher  for  his  profession.  —  Training  Colleges 
for  teachers.  — The  examinations  of  the  College  of  Preceptors. 

LECTURE  II. 
THE  PRACTICE  OR  ART  OF  EDUCATION. 

Success  in  the  Art  of  Teaching  duo  ultimately  to  recognition,  unconscious 
or  conscious,  of  the  Science  of  Education.  —  Correlation  of  learning  and 
teaching. — The  act  of  learning  resolves  itself  into  self-teaching.  —  The 
pupil  learns  only  what  he  teaches  himself — that  is,  masters  by  his  own 
thinking.  —  The  action  and  influence  of  the  teacher  absolutely  necessary  to 
superintend  and  direct  the  pupil's  process.  —  Two  typical  specimens  of  the 
art  of  teaching,  one  recognizing,  the  other  ignoring,  the  pupil's  competency 
to  teach  himself.  —  Essential  difference  of  principles  leading  to  different 
results.  —  The  main  business  of  the  teacher  is  to  get  his  pupil  to  teach 
himself.  — Bishop  Temple's  and  Rousseau's  opinions  on  self-teaching. 

LECTURE  III. 
EDUCATIONAL  METHODS. 

A  method  is  a  special  mode  of  applying  an  Art.  — The  aim  of  the  art  of 
Education  being  to  get  the  pupil  to  think  for  himself,  that  is  the  best  method 


16  CONTENTS. 

which  accomplishes  this  most  effectually.  —  The  pupil's  subjective  method 
of  learning  suggests  the  teacher's  objective  counterpart  method  of  teach- 
ing. —  The  establishment  of  the  characteristics  of  a  good  method  of  teaching 
supplies  a  test  of  the  merit  of  certain  well-known  methods.  —  Ascham's 
method  of  teaching  Latin,  commencing  with  the  facts  of  language  and 
building  upon  them.  —  His  principle  of  requiring  the  pupil  to  thoroughly 
master  a  small  portion  of  literary  matter  —  MuUum  non  multa.  —  Mr.  Quick's 
"Essays  on  Educational  Reformers."  —  Pestalozzi  —  his  qualifications  as  a 
teacher.  —  Account  of  his  practice,  by  a  pupil;  its  defects. — Jacotot — 
sketch  of  his  life.  —  The  experiment  at  Louvaine,  on  which  his  method  was 
founded.  —  Jacotot's  method  a  recognition  of  the  method  of  the  learner  — 
Apprenez  quelque  chose  et  rapportez-y  tout  le  reste;  or,  Learn,  repeat,  reflect, 
verify.  Application  to  the  teaching  of  reading,  showing  how  instruction 
becomes  a  means  of  education.  —  Summary. 


LECTURES  ON  EDUCATION. 


LECTURE  I.* 
THE  THEORY  OR  SCIENCE  OF  EDUCATION. 

IT  is  proposed,  in  this  course  of  three  Lectures,  to  treat  of,  1st, 
The  Theory  or  Science  of  Education  ;  2nd,  The  Practice  or  Art 
of  Education  ;  3rd,  Educational  Methods,  or  special  applications 
of  the  Science  and  Art. 

The  Science  of  Education  is  sometimes  called  Pedagogy  or 
Paideutics,  and  the  Art  of  Education,  Didactics.  There  seems, 
however,  no  need  for  these  technical  terms.  The  expressions 
Science  and  Art  of  Education  are  explicit,  and  sufficiently  answer 
the  purpose. 

The  Theory  or  Science,  as  distinguished  from  the  Practice  or 
Art,  embraces  an  enquiry  into  the  principles  on  which  the  Practice 
or  Art  depends,  and  which  give  reasons  for  the  efficiency  or  in- 
efficiency of  that  practice.  I  do  not  profess  in  this  Lecture  to 
construct  the  Science  of  Education  —  that  still  waits  for  its  devel- 
opment. As,  however,  its  ultimate  evolution  depends  very  much 
on  a  general  recognition  of  its  value  and  importance,  I  propose  to 
indicate  a  few  of  its  principles,  as  well  as  some  of  the  sources 
from  which  they  may  be  derived ;  and  further,  to  show  the  need 
for  their  application  to  the  present  condition  of  the  art. 

In  the  progress  of  knowledge,  practice  ever  precedes  theory. 
We  do,  before  we  enquire  why  we  do.  Thus  the  practice  of  lan- 
guage goes  before  the  investigation  into  its  laws,  and  the  Art 
before  the  Science  of  Music.  It  is  the  sa,me  with  Education.  The 
practice  has  long  existed ;  but  the  theory  has,  as  yet,  been  only 
partially  recognized.  As,  however,  theory  re-acts  on  practice,  and 
improves  it,  we  may  hope  to  see  the  same  results  in  Education, 
when  it  shall  be  scientifically  investigated. 

As  the  terms  Education  and  Instruction  will  frequently  occur  in 

*  Delivered  at  the  House  of  tho  Society  of  Arts,  on  12th  July,  1871;  Professor  Huxley, 
LL.D..  in  the  Chair. 


18  THE  THEORY   OF   EDUCATION. 

these  Lectures,  it  may  be  convenient  at  the  outset  to  enquire  into 
their  exact  meaning. 

The  verb  educare,  from  which  we  get  our  word  educate,  differs 
from  its  primitive  educere  in  this  respect,  that  while  the  latter 
means,  to  draw  forth  by  a  single  act,  the  former,  as  a  sort  of  fre- 
quentative verb,  signifies  to  draw  forth  frequentl}',  repeatedly, 
persistently,  and  therefore  strongly  and  permanently  ;  and  in  a 
secondary  sense  to  draw  forth  faculties,  to  train  or  educate  them. 
An  educator  is  therefore  a  trainer,  whose  function  it  is  to  draw 
forth  persistently,  habitually  and  permanently,  the  powers  of  a 
child,  and  education  is  the  process  which  he  emploj's  for  this 
purpose. 

Then  as  to  Instruction.  The  Latin  verb  instruere,  from  which 
we  derive  instruct,  means  to  place  materials  together,  not  at  ran- 
dom, but  for  a  purpose  —  to  pile  or  heap  them  one  upon  another 
in  an  orderly  manner,  as  parts  of  a  preconceived  Vhole.  Instruc- 
tion, then,  is  the  orderly  placing  of  knowledge  in  the  mind,  with  a 
definite  object.  The  mere  aggregation,  by  a  teacher,  in  the  minds 
of  his  pupils,  of  incoherent  ideas,  gained  by  desultory  and  uncon- 
nected mental  acts,  is  no  more  instruction  than  heaping  bricks  and 
stones  together  is  building  a  house.  The  true  instructor  is  never 
contented  with  the  mere  collection  of  materials,  however  valuable 
in  themselves,  but  continually  seeks  to  make  them  subservient  to 
the  end  he  has  in  view.  He  is  an  educational  Amphion,  under 
whose  influence  the  bricks  and  stones  move  together  to  the  place 
where  they  are  wanted,  and  grow  into  the  form  of  a  harmonious 
fabric. 

Instruction,  thus  viewed,  is  not  as  some  conceive  of  it,  the  anti- 
thesis of  Education,  nor  generically  distinct  from  it.  Every 
educator  is  an  instructor  ;  for  education  attains  its  ends  through 
instruction  ;  but,  as  will  be  shown,  the  instructor  who  is  not  also 
consciously  an  educator,  fails  to  accomplish  the  highest  aims  of 
his  science.  The  instruction  which  ends  in  itself  is  not  complete 
education. 
I  But  we  wjll  j^w  .attempt  to  giye  a  definition  of 


V 


Education.,  in  its  widest  sense,  is  a  general  expression  that  com- 
prehends all  the  influences  which  operate  on  the  human  being, 
stimulating  his  faculties  to  action,  forming  his  habits,  moulding 
his  character,  and  making  him  what  he  is.*  Though  so  power- 


'Whatever,"  says  Mr.  J.  8.  Mill,  "helps  to  shape  the  human  being,  to  make  the  indi- 
vidual what  he  la,  or  hinder  him  from  being  what  he  la  not,  ia  part  of  his  education." — 
Inaugural  Address  delivered  at  Si.  Andrew's, 


THE  THEORY  OF   EDUCATION.  19 

fully  affected  by  these  influences,  he  may  be  entirely  unconscious 
of  them.  They  are  to  him  as  "  the  wind  which  bloweth  whore  it 
listeth ;  but  he  knows  not  whence  it  cometh  nor  whither  it  goeth." 
They  are  not,  however,  less  real  on  this  account.  The  circumstances 
by  which  he  is  surrounded  —  the  climate,  the  natural  scenery,  the 
air  he  breathes,  the  food  he  eats,  the  moral  tone  of  the  family  life, 
that  of  the  community  —  all  have  a  share  in  converting  the  raw 
material  of  human  nature,  either  into  healthy,  intelligent,  moral 
and  religious  man  ;  or,  on  the  contrary,  in  converting  it  into  an 
embodiment  of  weakness,  stupidity,  wickedness,  and  misery.  Thus 
external  influences  automatically  acting  upon  a  neutral  nature,  pro- 
duce, each  after  its  kind,  the  most  opposite  results.  In  this  sense 
the  poor  little  gamin  of  our  streets,  who  defiles  the  air  with  his 
blasphemies,  whose  thoughts  are  of  the  dirt,  dirty,  who  picks  our 
pockets  with  a  clear  conscience,  has  been  duly  educated  by  the  im- 
pure atmosphere,  the  squalid  misery,  the  sad  examples  of  act  and 
speech  presented  to  him  in  his  daily  life  —  to  be  the  outcast  that 
he  is.  Such  instances  show  the  wondrous  power  of  the  education 
of  circumstances. 

It  is  a  noticeable  characteristic  of  this  kind  of  education,  that 
its  pupils  rarely  evince  of  their  own  accord  any  desire  for  improve- 
ment, and  are  in  this  respect  scarcely  distinguishable  from  barbar- 
ians. The  savages  of  our  race  remain  savages,  not  because  they 
have  not  the  same  original  faculties  as  ourselves  —  faculties  gen- 
erally capable  of  improvement  —  but  because  they  have  no  desire 
for  improvement.  Nature  does  indeed  furnish  her  children  with 
elementary  lessons.  She  teaches  them  the  use  of  the  senses, 
language,  and  the  qualities  of  matter,  but  she  leaves  them  to  pro- 
cure advanced  knowledge  for  themselves,  while  she  implants  in 
their  minds  neither  motive  nor  desire  for  its  acquisition.  The 
differentia  of  the  savage  is,  that  he  has  rarely  any  wish  for  self- 
elevation.  It  is  sad  to  think  how  many  savages  of  this  kind  we 
have  still  amongst  ourselves  ! 

But  education  is  conscious  as  wollfisnnronsoions.  Some  cause 
or  other  suggests  the  desire  for  improvement.  The  teacher  appears 
in  tlu>  field,  and  civilisation  begins  its  cajeer.  The  civilization 
which  we  contrast  with  barbarism  is  simply  the  result  of  that  action 
of  mind  on  mind  .which  carries  forwardv  the  teaching  of  Nature  — 
in  other  words,  of  what  we  call  education.  "Where  there  is  no 
specific  conscious  education,  there  is  no  civilization.  "Where  edu- 
cation is  fully  appreciated,  the  result  is  high  civilization ;  and 
generally,  as  education  advances,  civilization  advances  in  propor- 


20  THE  THEORY   OF   EDUCATION. 

tion,  and  thus  affords  a  measure  of  its  influence.  It  follows,  then, 
that  all  the  civilization  that  exists  is  ultimately  due  to  the  educator, 
including,  of  course,  the  educator  in  religion. 

Education,  then,  as  we  may  now  more  specifically  define  it,  \g_ 
the  training  carried  on  consciously  and  continuously  by  the  edu- 
cator, and  its  object  is  to  convert  desultory  and  accidental  force 
into  organized  action,  and  its  ultimate  aim  is  to  make  the  child 
operated  on  by  it  capable  of  becoming  a  healthy,  intelligent,  moral 
and  religious  man  ;  or  it  may  be  described  as  the  systematization 
of  all  the  influences  which  the  Science  of  Education  recognizes  as 
capable  of  being  employed  by  one  human  being  to  develop,  direct, 
and  maintain  vital  force  in  another,  with  a  view  to  the  formation 
of  habits. 

This  conception  of  the  end  of  education  defines  the  function  of 
the  educator.  He  has  to  direct  forces  already  existing  to  a  definite 
object,  and  in  proportion  as  his  direction  is  wise  and  judicious  will 
the  object  be  secured. 

He  has  in  the  child  before  him  an  embodiment  of  animal,  intel- 
lectual, and  moral  forces,  the  action  of-  which  is  irregular  and  for- 
tuitous. These  forces  he  has  to  develop  further,  direct,  and 
organize.  The  child  has  an  animal  nature,  affected  by  external 
influences,  and  endowed  with  vital  energies,  which  may  be  used 
or  abused  to  his  weal  or  woe.  He  has  also  an  intellectual  nature, 
capable  of  indefinite  development,  which  may  be  employed  in  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge,  and  gain  strength  by  the  very  act  of 
acquisition  ;  but  which  may,  on  the  other  hand,  through  neglect, 
waste  its  powers,  or  by  perversion  abuse  them.  He  has,  moreover, 
a  moral  nature  capable  by  cultivation  of  becoming  a  means  of  use- 
fulness and  happiness  to  himself  and  others,  or  of  becoming  by 
its  corruption  the  fruitful  source  of  misery  to  himself  ami  the 
community. 

It  is  the  business  of  the  educator,  by  his  action  and  influence  on 
these  forces,  to  secure  their  beneficial  and  avert  their  injurious 
manifestation  —  to  convert  this  undisciplined  energy  into  a  fund  of 
organized  self-acting  power. 

In  order  to  do  this  efficiently,  he  ought  to  understand  the  nature 
of  the  phenomena  that  he  has  to  deal  with  ;  and  his  own  training 
as  a  teacher  ought  especially  to  have  this  object  in  view.  Without 
this  knowledge,  much  that  he  does  may  be  really  injurious,  and 
much  more  of  no  value. 

To  speak  technically,  then,  a  knowledge  of  what  is  going  on  in 
his  pupils'  bodies,  minds,  and  hearts,  their  subjective  process,  will 


THE   THEORY   OF   EDUCATION.  21 

regulate  the  means  which  he  adopts  to  direct  the  action  of  those 
bodies,  minds,  and  hearts,  which  is  his  objective  process  —  the  one 
being  a  counterpart  of  the  other  —  and  the  consideration  of  what 
this  knowledge  consists  of,  and  how  it  may  be  best  applied,  consti- 
tutes the  Theory  or  Science  of  Education. 

I  am  well  aware  that  the  mention  of  the  words  "  Theory  of 
Education,"  and  the  assumption  that  the  educator  ought  to  be 
educated  in  it,  is  apt  to  excite  some  degree  of  opposition  in  the 
minds  of  those  who  claim  especially  the  title  of  "  practical  teach- 
ers," and  who  therefore  characterize  this  theory  as  "  a  quackery." 
Now  a  quack,  the  dictionary  tells  us,  is  "  one  who  practices  an  art 
without  any  knowledge  of  its  principles."  There  seems,  then,  to 
be  a  cm-ious  infelicity  of  language  in  calling  a  subject  which  em- 
braces principles,  which  especially  insists  on  principles,  a  quackery. 
If  education,  thus  viewed,  is  a  quackery,  then  the  same  must  be 
said  of  medicine,  law,  and  theology  ;  and  it  would  follow  that  the 
greatest  proficient  in  the  principles  of  these  sciences  must  be  the 
greatest  quack  —  a  remarkable  reductio  ad  absurdum.  This  posi- 
tion, then,  will  perhaps  hardly  be  maintained. 

But  there  is  a  second  line  of  defence.  The  practical  teachers 
say  —  and,  doubtless  say  sincerely  —  "  We  don't  want  any  Theory 
of  Education ;  our  aim  is  practical,  we  want  nothing  but  the 
practical."  We  agree  with  them  as  to  the  value,  the  indispensable 
value,  of  the  practical,  but  not  as  to  the  assumed  antagonism 
between  theory  and  practice.  So  far  from  being  in  any  strict 
sense  opposed,  they  are  identical.  Theory  is  the  general,  practice 
the  particular  expression  of  the  same  facts.  The  words  of  the 
theory  interpret  the  practice  ;  the  propositions  of  the  science  inter- 
pret the  silent  language  of  the  art.  The  one  represents  truth  in 
posse,  the  other  in  esse;  the  one,  as  Dr.  Whewell  well  remarks, 
involves,  the  other  evolves,  principles.  So  in  Education,  theory  and 
practice  go  hand-iii-hand  ;  and  the  practical  man  who  denounces 
theory  is  a  theorist  in  fact.*  He  does  not  of  course  drive  blindly 
on,  without  caring  whither  he  is  going ;  the  conception,  then, 
which  he  forms  of  his  end,  is  his  theory.  Nor  does  he  act  without 
considering  the  means  for  securing  his  object.  This  consideration 
of  the  means  as  suitable  or  unsuitable  for  his  purpose,  is  again  his 
theory.  In  fact,  the  reasons  which  he  would  give  for  his  actual 
practice,  to  account  for  it  or  defend  it,  constitute,  whether  he 


*  "Theory  and  practice  always  act  upon  each  other;  one  can  see  from  their  works  what 
men's  opinions  arc;  and  from  their  opinions  predict  what  they  will  do." — Goethe. 


22  THE  THEORY   OF   EDUCATION. 

admits  it  or  not,  his  theory  of  action.  All  that  we  ask,  is  that  this 
conception  of  theory,  in  relation  to  education,  should  be  extended 
and  reduced  to  principles. 

Mr.  Grove,  the  eminent  Q.C.,  in  an  address  given  at  St.  Mary's 
Hospital,  forcibly  expresses  the  same  opinion  :  —  "If  there  be  one 
species  of  cant,"  he  says,  "more  detestable  than  another,  it  is 
that  which  eulogizes  what  is  called  the  practical  man  as  contradis- 
tinguished from  the  scientific.  If,  by  practical  man,  is  meant  one 
who,  having  a  mind  well  stored  with  scientific  and  general  informa- 
tion, has  his  knowledge  chastened  and  his  theoretic  temerity  sub- 
dued, by  varied  experience,  nothing  can  be  better ;  but  if,  as  is 
commonly  meant  by  the  phrase,  a  practical  man  means  one  whose 
knowledge  is  only  derived  from  habit  or  traditional  system,  such  a 
man  has  no  resource  to  meet  unusual  circumstances ;  such  a  man 
has  no  plasticity ;  he  kills  a  man  according  to  rule,  and  consoles 
himself,  like  Moliere's  doctor,  by  the  reflection  that  a  dead  man  is 
only  a  dead  man,  but  that  a  deviation  from  received  practice  is  an 
injury  to  the  whole  profession." 

Practical  teachers  may,  however,  admit  that  they  have  a  theory, 
an  empirical  theory,  of  their  own  which  governs  their  practice,  and 
yet  deny  that  the  generalization  of  this  theory  into  principles  would 
be  of  any  value  to  themselves  or  to  the  cause  of  education.  They 
may  go  further  still,  and  deny  both  that  there  is  or  can  be  any 
Science  of  Education.  Some  do,  indeed,  deny  both  these  positions. 
It  has  already  been  admitted  that  the  Science  of  Education  is  as 
yet  in  a  rudimentary  condition.  There  is  at  present  no  such  code 
of  indisputable  laws  to  test  and  govern  educational  action  as  there 
is  in  many  other  sciences.  Its  principles  lie  disjointed  and  unor- 
ganized in  the  sciences  of  Physiology,  Psychology,  Ethics,  and 
Logic,  and  will  only  be  gathered  together  and  codified  when  we 
rise  to  a  high  conception  of  its  value  and  importance.  Even  now, 
however,  they  are  acknowledged  in  the  discussion  of  such  questions 
as,  the  best  method  of  training  the  natural  faculties  of  children  — 
the  order  of  their  development  —  the  subjects  proper  for  the  curri- 
culum of  instruction  —  book  teaching  versus  oral  —  the  differentia 
of  female  education  —  school  discipline  —  moral  training,  and  a 
multitude  of  others  which  will  one  day  be  decided  by  a  reference, 
not  to  traditional  usage,  but  to  the  principles  of  the  Science  of 
Kducation.  The  fact,  then,  that  this  science  is  not  yet  objectively 
constructed  is  no  argument  against  our  attempting  to  construct  it, 
ivnd  we  maintain  that  the  pertinacious  adherence  to  the  notion  of 
the  all-sufficiency  of  routine  forms  the  greatest  difficulty  in  the 


• 

THE  THEORY   OF   EDUCATION.  23 

way  of  securing  the  object.     It  is,  however,  mainly  for  the  sake 
of  the  teachers  of  the  next  generation,  that  the  importance  of  a 
true  conception  of  the  value  of  principles  in  education  is  insisted  on. 
It  follows,  then,  that  practical  teachers  who  desire  to  see  prac- 
/  tice  improved  —  and  surely  there  is  need  of  improvement  —  ought 
to  admit  that  there  is  the  same  obligation  resting  on  the  educator 
to  study  the  principles  of  his  art  as  there  is  on  the  physician  to 
study  anatomy  and  therapeutics,  and  on  the  civil  engineer  to  study  • 
mechanics.     The  art,  in  each  of  these  cases,  has  a  scientific  basis^»L  * 
and  the  practitioner  who  desires  to  be  successful  in  it  —  to  be  theL 
master  and  not  the  slave  of  routine  —  must  studiously  investigate  1 
its  fundamental  principles. 

But  there  is  another  argument  against  routine  teaching  which 
ought  not  to  be  omitted.  It  is  founded  on  the  effect  which  such 
teaching  produces  on  the  pupil.  Those  teachers  who  are  them- 
selves the  slaves  of  routine  make  their  pupils  slaves  also.  "Without 
intellectual  freedom  themselves,  they  cannot  emancipate  their 
pupils.  The  machine  generates  machines.  They  make  their  pupils 
mechanically  apt  and  dexterous  in  processes,  and  in  this  way  train 
them  to  practice  ;  but  not  appreciating  principles  themselves,  they 
cannot  train  them  to  principles.  Yet  this  latter  training,  which 
essentially  involves  reasoning  and  thought,  ought  to  be  the  con- 
tinual and  persistent  aim  of  the  educator.  He  has  very  imperfectly 
accomplished  the  end  of  his  being  if  he  dismisses  his  pupils  as 
merely  mechanical  artisans,  knowing  the  how,  but  ignorant  of  the 
why  ;  expert  in  processes,  but  uninformed  in  principles  ;  instructed, 
but  not  truly  educated.  It  is  the  possession  of  principles  which 
gives  mental  life,  courage,  and  power :  the  courage  which  is  not 
daunted  where  routine  fails,  the  power  which  not  only  firmly 
directs  the  established  machinery,  but  corrects  its  apparent  eccen- 
tricities, can  repair  it  when  it  is  deranged,  and  adjust  its  forces  to 
new  emergencies.  Take  the  case  of  a  routine  pupil  to  whom  you 
propose  an  arithmetical  problem.  His  first  enquiry  is,  not  what 
are  the  conditions  of  the  question,  and  the  principles  involved  in 
its  solution,  but  what  rule  he  is  to  work  it  by.*  This  is  the  question 
of  a  slave,  who  can  do  nothing  without  orders  from  his  master. 
"\\Y11,  you  give  him  the  rule.  The  rule  is,  in  fact,  a  r£sum6  of 
principles  which  some  scientific  man  has  deduced  from  concrete 

*  MM.  Demogeot  and  Montticcl,  In  their  Report  to  the  French  Government  on  English 
Secondary  Instruction  (Paris,  1867),  severely  comment  on  the  mechanical  spirit  in  which 
mathematics  are  generally  taught  In  our  schools  through  our  taking  little  account  of  the 
reason,  and  making  processes  rather  than  principles  the  end  of  instruction  (p.  120). 


24  THE  THEORY   OF   EDUCATION. 

facts,  and  which  represents  and  embodies  the  net  result  of  various 
processes  of  his  mind  upon  them.  But  what  is  it  to  our  routine 
pupil  ?  To  him  it  is  merely  an  order  given  by  a  slave  driver,  and 
he  hears  in  it  the  words,  —  Do  this;  don't  do  that;  don't  ask 
why  ;  do  exactly  as  I  bid  you.  He  reads  his  rule,  his  order,  does 
what  he  is  bid,  grinds  away  at  his  work,  and  arrives  at  the  end  of 
it  as  much  a  slave  as  ever,  and  he  is  a  slave  because  his  master 
has  made  him  one. 

Educators,  indeed,  like  other  men,  come  under  two  large  cate- 
gories, which  may  be  described  in  the  pregnant  words  of  the 
accomplished  author  of  the  "  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast  Table." 
"  All  economical  and  practical  wisdom,"  he  says,  "  is  an  extension 
or  variation  of  the  following  arithmetical  formula  2  -\-  2  =  4.  Every 
philosophical  proposition  has  the  more  general  character  of  the 
expression  a  -\-b  =  c.  We  are  merely  operatives,  empirics,  and 
egotists,  until  we  begin  to  think  in  letters  instead  of  figures." 

Now  the  mere  routine  teacher  belongs  to  the  former,  and  the 
true  educator  to  the  latter  class,  and  each  will  stamp  his  own 
image  on  his  pupils. 

All  that  has  been  said  resolves  itself,  then,  into  the  proposition 
that  a  man  engaged  in  a  profession,  as  distinguished  from  a  mere 
handicraft,  ought  not  only  to  know  what  he  is  doing,  but «:/«/;  the 
one  constituting  his  practice,  the  other  his  theory.  He  cannot  give 
a  reason  for  the  faith  that  is  in  him,  unless  he  examines  the  grounds 
of  that  faith,  —  unless  he  examines  them  per  se,  and  traces  their 
connection  with  each  other  and  with  the  whole  body  of  truth.  The 
possession  of  this  higher  kind  of  knowledge,  the  knowledge  of 
principles  and  laws,  is,  strictly  speaking,  his  only  warrant  for  the 
pretension  that  he  is  a  professional  man,  and  not  a  mere  mechanic. 
Society  has  not,  indeed,  hitherto  demanded  this  professional  equip- 
ment for  the  educator,  nor  has  the  educator  himself  generally 
recognized  the  obligation,  aptly  stated  by  Dr.  Arnold,  that,  "  in 
whatever  it  is  our  duty  to  act,  those  matters  also  it  is  our  duty  to 
study,"  and  hence  the  present  condition  of  education  in  England. 
Education  can  never  take  its  proper  rank  among  the  learned  pro- 
fessions, that  proper  rank  being  really  the  highest  of  them  all, 
until  teachers  see  that  there  really  are  principles  of  Education,  and 
that  it  is  their  duty  to  study  them. 

But  there  is  another  mode  of  studying  principles  besides  investi- 
gating them  per  se.  They  may  be  studied  in  the  practice  of  those 
who  have  mastered  them. 

It  is  clear  that  a  man  may  have  carefully  investigated  the  priii- 


THE  THEORY   OF   EDUCATION.  25 

ciples  of  an  art,  and  yet  fail  in  the  application  of  them.  This 
generally  arises  from  his  not  having  fully  comprehended  them.  He 
has  omitted  to  notice  or  appreciate  something  which,  if  he  knew 
it,  would  answer  his  purpose  ;  or  from  want  of  early  training  finds 
it  difficult  to  deduce  facts  from  principles,  practice  from  theory. 
In  such  a  case  there  is  an  available  resource.  Others  have  seen 
what  he  has  failed  to  see,  have  firmly  grasped  what  he  has  not 
comprehended,  have  made  the  necessary  deductions,  and  embodied 
them  in  their  own  practice.  Let  the  learner,  then,  in  the  Science 
of  Education,  study  that  practice,  and  trace  it  in  the  correspon- 
dence between  the  principles  which  he  but  partially  appreciates, 
and  their  practical  application  in  the  methods  of  those  who  have 
thought  them  out.  In  other  words,  let  him  study  the  great  masters 
of  his  art,  and  learn  from  them  the  philosophy  which  teaches  by 
examples.  This  study,  so  far  from  being  inconsistent  with  the 
Theory  of  Education,  is,  indeed,  a  necessary  part  of  it.  We  may 
all  learn  something  from  the  successful  experience  of  others.  De 
Quincy  (as  quoted  by  Mr.  Quick  in  his  valuable  "  Essays  on  Edu- 
cational Reformers")  has  pointed  out  that  a  man  who  takes  up 
any  pursuit,  without  knowing  what  advances  others  have  made  in 
it,  works  at  a  great  disadvantage.  He  does  not  apply  his  strength 
in  the  right  direction,  he  troubles  himself  about  small  matters  and 
neglects  great,  he  falls  into  errors  that  have  long  since  been  ex- 
ploded. To  this  Mr.  Quick  pertinently  adds,  —  "I  venture  to 
think,  therefore,  that  practical  men,  in  education,  as  in  most  other 
things,  may  derive  benefit  from  the  knowledge  of  what  has  been 
already  said  and  done  by  the  leading  men  engaged  in  it  both  past  and 
present."  Notwithstanding  the  obvious  common  sense  of  this 
observation,  it  is  undeniably  true  that  the  great  majority  of  teach- 
ers afre  profoundly  ignorant  of  the  sayings  and  doings  of  the 
authorities  in  Education.  Their  own  empirical  methods,  their  own 
self-devised  principles  of  instruction,  generally  form  their  entire 
equipment  for  their  profession.  I  have  myself  questioned  on  this 
subject  scores  of  middle-class  teachers,  and  have  not  met  with  so 
many  as  half-a-dozen  who  knew  anything  more  than  the  names, 
and  often  not  these,  of  Quintilian,  Ascham,  Comenius,  Locke, 
Pestalozzi,  Jacotot,  Arnold,  and  Herbert  Spencer.  What  should 
we  say  of  a  physician  who  was  entirely  unacquainted  with  the  re- 
searches of  Hippocrates,  Galen,  Harvey,  Sydenham,  the  Hunters, 
and  Bright? 

In  the  foregoing  remarks  I  have  endeavored  to  show  that  there 
'B,  and  must  be,  a  Theory  of  Education  underlying  the  practice. 


£6  THE  THEORY   OF   EDUCATION. 

however  manifested,  and  to  vindicate  the  conception  of  it  from 
the  contempt  sometimes  thoughtlessly  thrown  upon  it  by  practical 
teachers. 

But  it  is  important  now  to  attempt  to  ascertain  what  resources, 
in  the  shape  of  principles,  hints,  and  suggestions,  it  furnishes  to 
the  educator  in  his  three-fold  capacity  of  director  of  Plysical, 
Mental,  and  Moral  education. 

The  conception  we  have  formed  of  the  educator  in  relation  to 
his  work  requires  him  to  be  possessed  of  a  knowledge  of  the  being 
whom  he  has  to  control  and  guide.  "  "Whatever  questions,"  says 
Dr.  Youmans,  of  New  York,  "  of  the  proper  subjects  to  be  taught, 
their  relative  claims,  or  the  true  methods  of  teaching  them,  may 
arise,  there  is  a  prior  and  fundamental  enquiry  into  the  nature, 
capabilities,  and  requirements  of  the  being  to  be  taught.  A  knowl- 
edge of  the  being  to  be  trained,  as  it  is  the  basis  of  all  intelligent 
culture,  must  be  the  first  necessity  of  the  teacher"  (p.  404).* 

Physical  Education. 

Viewed  merely  as  an  animal,  this  being  is  a  depository  of  vital 
forces,  which  may  be  excited  or  depressed,  well-directed  or  misdi- 
rected. These  forces  are  resident  in  a  complicated  structure  of  limbs, 
senses,  breathing,  digesting  and  blood-circulating  apparatus,  &c.  ; 
and  their  healthy  manifestation  depends  much  (of  course  not 
altogether)  upon  circumstances  under  the  control  of  the  educator. 
If  he  understands  the  phenomena,  he  will  modify  the  circumstances 
for  the  benefit  of  the  child  ;  if  he  does  not  understand  them,  the 
child  will  suffer  from  his  ignorance.  The  daily  experience  of  the 
school-room  sufficiently  illustrates  this  point.  Place  a  large  num- 
ber of  children  in  a  small  room  with  the  windows  shut  down,  and 
detain  them  at  their  lessons  for  two  or  three  hours  together.  Then 
take  note  of  what  you  see.  The  impure  air,  breathed  and  re- 
breathed  over  and  over  again,  has  lost  its  vitality  —  has  become 
poisonous.  It  reacts  on  the  blood,  and  this  again  on  the  brain. 
The  teacher  as  well  as  the  children  all  suffer  from  the  same  cause, 
lie  languidly  delivers  a  lesson  to  pupils  who  more  languidly  receive 
it.  They  are  no  longer  able  to  concentrate  their  attention.  They 
answer  his  half-understood  questions  carelessly  and  incorrectly. 
Not  appreciating  the  true  state  of  the  case,  he  treats  them  as  wil- 
fully indifferent,  and  punishes  the  offenders,  as  they  feel,  unjustly. 

*  "The  culture  demanded  by  Modern  Life:  n  series  of  addresses  and  arguments  on  the 
claims  of  scientific  education.  Edited  by  Dr.  Youmaus,  Xew  York,  1867."  There  Is  also  a.1 
English  edition,  published  by  Mactulllau. 


THE  THEORY   OF   EDUCATION.  27 

They  retain  this  impression  ;  the  cordial  relation  subsisting  before 
is  rudely  disturbed,  and  his  moral  influence  over  them  is  impaired. 
AVe  have  here  a  natural  series  of  causes  and  consequences.  The 
state  of  the  air,  a  physical  cause,  acts  first  on  the  bodies,  then  on 
the  minds,  and  lastly  on  the  hearts  of  the  pupils  ;  the  last  being, 
perhaps,  the  most  important  consequence  of  the  three.  Now  in 
this  case  both  teacher  and  pupils  suffer  from  neglect  of  those  laws 
of  health  which  a  knowledge  of  Physiology  would  have  supplied. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  upon  the  obvious  applications  of  such 
knowledge  to  diet,  sleep,  cleanliness,  clothing,  &c. 

Knowledge  of  this  kind  has  been  strangely  overlooked  in  the 
educator's  own  education,  though  so  much  of  his  efficiency  depends 
on  his  acting  himself,  and  causing  others  to  act,  on  the  full  recog- 
nition of  its  value.  Education  has  too  generally  been  regarded  in 
its  relations  to  the  mind,  and  the  co-operation  of  the  body  in  the 
mind's  action  has  been  forgotten.  Those  who  listened  to  the 
masterly  lecture,  delivered  a  few  years  ago  at  this  College  by  Dr. 
Youmans,  on  the  "Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature,"  will 
remember  his  eloquent  vindication  of  the  claims  of  the  body  to 
that  consideration  which  educators  too  frequently  deny  it,  and  the 
consequent  importance  to  them  of  sound  physiological  knowledge. 
With  singular  force  of  reasoning  he  showed  that  the  healthiness  of 
the  brain,  as  the  organic  seat  of  the  mind,  is  the  essential  basis  of 
the  teacher's  operations  ;  that  the  efficiency  of  the  brain  depends 
in  a  great  degree  on  the  health}'  condition  of  the  stomach,  lungs, 
heart  and  skin  ;  and  that  this  condition  is  very  much  affected  by 
the  teacher's  application  of  the  laws  of  health  as  founded  on 
Physiology.  His 'general  remarks  on  education,  and  especially  on 
physical  education,  are  too  valuable  to  be  omitted  :  — 

"  The  imminent  question,"  he  says  (p.  40G),  "is,  how  may  the 
child  and  youth  be  developed  healthfully  and  vigorously,  bodily, 
mentally,  and  morally  ?  and  science  alone  can  answer  it  by  a  state- 
ment of  the  laws  upon  which  that  development  depends.  Ignorance 
of  these  laws  must  inevitably  involve  mismanagement.  That  there 
is  a  large  amount  of  mental  perversion  and  absolute  stupidity,  as 
well  as  bodily  disease,  produced  in  school,  by  measures  which 
operate  to  the  prejudice  of  the  growing  brain,  is  not  to  be  doubted  ; 
that  dullness,  indocility,  and  viciousness,  are  frequently  aggra- 
vated by  teachers,  incapable  of  discriminating  between  their 
mental  and  bodily  causes,  is  also  undeniable  ;  while  that  teachers 
often  miserably  fail  to  improve  their  pupils,  and  then  report  the 
result  of  their  own  iucompetcncy  as  failures  of  nature,  —  all  may 


28  THE  THEORY  OF   EDUCATION. 

have  seen,  although  it  is  now  proved  that  the  lowest  imbeciles  are 
not  sunk  beneath  the  possibility  of  elevation." 

I  give  one  short  quotation  from  Dr.  Andrew  Combe,  to  the  same 
effect.  "  I  cannot,"  he  says,  "  regard  any  teacher,  or  parent,  as 
fully  and  conscientiously  qualified  for  his  duties,  unless  he  has 
made  himself  acquainted  with  the  nature  and  general  lawsx>f  the 
animal  economy,  and  with  the  direct  relation  in  which  these  stand 
to  the  principles  of  education."  Dr.  Brigham  also  advices  those 
who  undertake  to  cultivate  and  discipline  the  mind,  to  acquaint 
themselves  with  Human  Anatomy  and  Physiology. 

All  these  authorities  agree,  then,  that  educators  have  a  better 
chance  of  improving  the  physical  condition  of  their  pupils  if  they 
are  themselves  acquainted  with  the  laws  of  health  ;  and  they  insist, 
moreover,  that  the  health  of  the  body  is  not  only  desirable  for  its 
own  sake,  but  because,  from  the  interdependence  of  mind  and  bod}-, 
the  mens  sana  depends  so  much  on  the  corpus  sanum.  This  truth  is 
strikingly,  though  paradoxically,  expressed  by  Rousseau,  when  he 
says,  "The  weaker  the  body  is,  the  more  it  commands  ;  the  stronger 
it  is  the  better  it  obeys  ;  "  and  when  he  also  says,  "  make  your  pupil 
robust  and  healthy,  in  order  to  make  htm  reasonable  and  wise." 

In  short,  hundreds  of  writers  have  written  on  this  subject  for 
the  benefit  of  educators,  thousands  of  whom  have  never  even  heard 
of,  much  less  read,  their  writings  ;  or,  if  they  have,  pursue  the  even 
tenor  of  their  way,  doing  just  as  they  did  before,  and  ignorantly 
laughing  at  Hygiene  and  all  the  aid  she  offers  them. 

Physical  education  also  comprehends  the  training  of  special 
faculties  and  functions,  with  a  view  to  impi'ove  their  condition. 
The  trainer  of  horses,  dogs,  singing  birds,  boxers,  boat  crews,  and 
cricketers,  all  make  a  study,  more  or  less  profound,  of  the  material 
they  have  to  deal  with  —  all  except  the  educator,  the  trainer  of 
trainers,  who  generally  leaves  things  to  take  their  chance,  or 
assumes  that  the  object  will  be  sufficiently  gained  by  the  exercises 
of  the  playground  and  the  gymnastic  apparatus.  It  would  be  easy 
to  show  that  this  self-education,  although  most  valuable,  is  insuf- 
ficient, and  ought  to  be  supplemented  by  the  appliances  of  Physio- 
logical Science.  This  science  would  suggest,  in  some  cases, 
remedies  for  natural  defects ;  in  others,  suitable  training  for 
natural  weakness  ;  in  others,  still  graver  reasons  for  checking  the 
injurious  tendency,  so  common  amongst  children,  to  over-exertion  ; 
and  in  all  these  cases  would  be  directly  ancillary  to  the  professed 
object  of  the  educator  as  a  trainer  of  intellectual  and  moral  forces. 

The  elFect,  too,  of  the  condition  of  the  mind  on  that  of  the  body 


THE   THEORY   OF   EDUCATION.  29 

—  the  converse  reciprocal  action  —  is  an  important  part  of  this 
subject ;  but  there  is  no  time  to  enter  on  it. 

Intellectual  Education. 

But  let  us  next  consider  the  relation  of  the  educator  to  the 
intellectual  education  of  his  pupils.  However  willing  he  may  be  to 
repudiate  his  responsibility  for  the  training  of  their  bodies,  he 
cannot  deny  his  responsibility  for  the  training  of  their  minds.  But 
here  Dr.  Youmans'  words,  already  quoted,  apply  with  especial 
force  —  "A  knowledge  of  the  being  to  be  trained,  as  it  is  the  basis 
of  intelligent  culture,  must  be  the  first  necessity  of  the  teacher," 
and  few  perhaps  will  venture  to  argue  against  those  that  follow : 
"Education,"  he  says,  "is  an  art,  like  locomotion,  mining,  and 
bleaching,  which  may  be  pursued  empirically  or  rationally  —  as  a 
blind  habit,  or  under  intelligent  guidance :  and  the  relations  of 
science  to  it  are  precisely  the  same  as  to  all  the  other  arts  —  to  as- 
certain then*  conditions,  and  give  law  to  their  processes.  What  it 
has  done  for  navigation,  telegraphy,  and  war,  it  will  also  do  for 
culture." 

The  educator  of  the  mind  ought,  then,  to  be  acquainted  with  its 
phenomena  and  its  natural  operations  ;  he  ought  to  know  what  the 
mind  does  when  it  perceives,  remembers,  judges,  &c.,  as  well  as 
the  general  laws  which  govern  these  processes.  He  sees  these  pro- 
cesses in  action  continually  in  his  pupils,  and  has  thus  abundant 
opportunities  for  studying  them  objectively.  He  is  conscious  of 
them,  too,  in  his  own  intellectual  life,  and  there  may  study  them 
subjectively ;  but  the  investigation,  thus  limited,  is  confessedly 
difficult,  and  will  be  much  facilitated  by  his  making  an  independent 
study  of  them  as  embodied  in  the  science  of  Psychology  or  Mental 
Philosophy.  This  science  deals  with  everything  which  belongs  to 
the  art  which  he  is  daily  practising,  will  explain  to  him  some 
matters  which  he  has  found  difficult,  will  open  his  eyes  to  others 
which  he  has  failed  to  see,  will  suggest  to  him  the  importance  of 
truths  which  he  has  hitherto  deemed  valueless ;  and,  in  short,  the 
mastery  of  it  will  endow  him  with  a  power  of  which  he  will  con- 
stantly feel  the  influence  in  his  practice.  His  pupils  are  continu- 
ally engaged  in  observing  outward  objects,  ascertaining  their  nature 
by  analysis,  comparing  them  together,  classifying  them,  gaining 
mental  conceptions  of  them,  recalling  these  conceptions  by  mem- 
ory, judging  of  their  -relations  to  each  other,  reasoning  on  these 
relations,  imagining  conceptions,  inventing  new  combinations  of 
'Jiem,  generalizing  by  induction  from  particulars,  verifying  these 


80  THE   THEORY   OF   EDUCATION. 

generalizations  by  deduction  to  particulars,  tracing  effects  to  causes 
and  causes  to  effects.  Now,  every  one  of  these  acts  forms  a  part 
of  the  daily  mental  life  of  the  pupils  whom  the  educator  is  to  train. 
"Will  not  the  educator,  who  understands  them  as  a  part  of  his 
science,  be  more  competent  to  direct  them  to  profitable  action  than 
one  who  merely  recognizes  them  as  a  part  of  his  empirical  routine? 
Suppose  that  the  object  is  to  cultivate  the  power  of  observation. 
Now  the  power  of  observation  may  vary  in  accuracy  from  the  care- 
less glance  which  leaves  scarcely  any  impression  behind  it,  to  the 
close  penetrating  scrutiny  of  the  experienced  observer,  which  leaves 
nothing  unseen.  Mr.  J.  S.  Mill  (Logic  i.  408)  has  pointed  out  the 
difference  between  observers.  "  One  man,"  he  says,  "  from  inat- 
tention, or  attending  only  in  the  wrong  place,  overlooks  half  of 
what  he  sees ;  another  sets  down  much  more  than  he  sees,  con- 
founding it  with  what  he  imagines,  or  with  what  he  infers  ;  another 
takes  note  of  the  kind  of  all  the  circumstances,  but,  being  inexpert 
in  estimating  their  degree,  leaves  the  quantity  of  each  vague  and 
uncertain ;  another  sees  indeed  the  whole,  but  makes  such  awk- 
ward division  of  it  into  parts,  throwing  things  into  one  mass  which 
ought  to  be  separated,  and  separating  others  which  might  more 
conveniently  be  considered  as  one,  that  the  result  is  much  the 
same,  sometimes  even  worse,  than  if  no  analysis  had  been  at- 
tempted at  all.  To  point  out,"  he  proceeds,  "what  qualities  of 
mind,  or  modes  of  mental  culture,  fit  a  man  for  being  a  good  ob- 
server, is  a  question  which  belongs  to  the  theory  of  education. 
There  are  rules  of  self-culture  which  render  us  capable  of  observ- 
ing, as  there  are  arts  for  strengthening  the  limbs." 

But  to  return  to  our  educator,  who,  having  been  educated  him- 
self in  Mental  Science,  desires  to  make  his  pupils  good  observers. 
He  recognizes  the  fact  that,  to  make  them  observe  accurately,  he 
must  first  cultivate  the  senses  concerned  in  observing ;  he  must 
train  the  natural  eye  to  see,  that  is,  to  perceive  accurately  —  by  no 
means  an  instinctive  faculty ;  for  this  he  must  cultivate  the  power 
of  attention  ;  he  must  lead  them  to  perceive  the  parts  in  the  whole, 
the  whole  in  the  parts,  of  the  object  observed,  calling  on  the  analy- 
tical faculty  for  the  first  operation,  the  synthetical  for  the  second ; 
he  must  invite  comparison  with  other  like  and  unlike  objects,  for 
the  detection  of  difference  in  the  one'  case,  and  of  similarity  in  the 
other,  and  so  on.  Is  it  probable  that  the  teacher  entirely  ignorant 
of  the  science  of  Psychology,  and  the  educator  furnished  with  its 
resources,  will  make  their  respective  pupils  equally  accurate  ob- 
servers ? 


THE  THEORY   OF   EDUCATION.  3i 

It  would  not  be  difficult  to  show  that  a  knowledge  of  Logic,  as 
"  the  science  of  reasoning  "  or  of  the  formal  laws  of  thought  should 
also  be  a  part  of  the  equipment  of  the  accomplished  educator.  The 
power  of  reasoning  is  a  natural  endowment  of  his  pupils  ;  but  the 
power  of  correct  reasoning,  like  that  of  observing,  requires  training 
and  cultivation.  But  we  cannot  dwell  on  this  point. 

In  further  illustration  of  the  main  argument,  I  beg  to  refer  my 
hearers  to  the  very  ingenious  lecture  lately  delivered  at  this  Col- 
lege by  my  friend  Mr.  Lake,  on  "  The  Application  of  Mental 
Science  to  Teaching,"  and  especially  to  teaching  Writing,  wherein 
he  shows  that  even  that  mechanical  art  may  be  made  a  means  of 
real  mental  training  to  the  pupil.  He  proves  that  Muscular  Sensi- 
bility, Sensation,  Thought,  Will,  as  well  as  the  nascent  sense  of 
Artistic  Taste,  are  all  involved  in  the  subjective  process  of  the 
pupil ;  that  in  accordance  with  this,  the  educated  educator  frames 
the  objective  process,  through  which  he  develops  the  pupil's  mind, 
and  to  some  extent  his  moral  character,  and  thus  makes  him  a 
practical  proficient  in  his  art.  Mr.  Lake's  lecture  is  probably  the 
first  attempt  ever  made  to  show  the  direct  practical  bearing  of 
physiological  and  psychological  knowledge  on  the  art  of  teaching, 
and  deserves  the  thoughtful  consideration  of  all  educators.  This 
same  Mental  Science  is  also  applicable  to  the  teaching  of  Reading 
and  Arithmetic.  Indeed,  I  am  persuaded  —  and  I  speak  from  some 
experience  —  that  these  elementary  arts  may  be  so  taught  as  to 
become,  not  only  "  instruction,"  but  true  "  education,"  to  the 
child  ;  not  merely,  as  they  are  generally  regarded,  "  instruments  of 
education,"  but  education  itself.  Observation,  memory,  judgment, 
reasoning,  invention,  and  pleasurable  associations  with  the  art  of 
learning,  may  all  be  cultivated  by  a  judicious  application  of  the 
principles  of  Mental  Science.  Mulhauser,  and  Manly  (of  the  City 
of  London  School),  have  proved  this  for  Writing,  Jacotot  for 
Reading,  and  Pestalozzi  for  Arithmetic.  When  this  truth  is 
acknowledged,  it  will  be  felt  more  generally  than  it  is  now,  that 
the  most  pretentious  schemes  and  curricula  of  education  are,  after 
all,  comparatively  valueless  if  they  do  not  secure  for  the  pupil  the 
power  of  doing  common  things  well.  This,  however,  is  a  theme 
which  would  require  a  lecture  by  itself  for  its  adequate  treatment. 

Moral  Education. 

But  the  child  whom  we  have  considered  as  the  object  of  the 
educator's  operations  has  moral  as  well  as  physical  and  intellectual 
faculties  ;  and  the  development  of  these,  with  the  view  of  forming 


82  THE   THEORY   OF   EDUCATION. 

character,  is  a  trauscendantly  important  part  of  the  educator's 
work.  This  child  has  feelings,  desires,  a  will  aud  a  conscience, 
which  are  to  be  developed  and  guided.  Here,  too,  as  in  the  other 
cases,  Nature  has  given  elementary  teaching,  and  elicited  desultory 
and  instinctive  action  ;  but  her  lessons  are  insufficient,  and  require 
to  be  supplemented  by  the  educator's. 

The  child,  as  already  said,  is  a  moral  being,  but  his  moral 
principles  are  crude  and  inconsistent.  Acted  on  by  the  impulse  of 
the  moment,  he  follows  out  the  promptings  of  his  will,  without 
any  regard  to  personal  or  relative  consequences ;  and  if  the  will 
is  naturally  strong,  even  the  experience  of  injurious  consequences 
does  not,  of  itself,  restrain  him.  Self-love  induces  him  to  regard 
everything  that  he  wishes  to  possess  as  rightfully  his  own.  He 
says  by  his  actions,  "Creation's  heir,  the  world  —  the  world  is 
mine."  He  is  therefore  indifferent  to  the  rights  of  others,  and 
resents  all  opposition  to  his  self-seeking.  He  is  also  indifferent  to 
the  feelings  of  others,  and  often  tyrannizes  over  those  who  are 
weaker  than  himself .  His  unbounded  curiosity  impels  him  inces- 
santly to  gain  knowledge.  He  examines  everything  that  interests 
him  ;  acquires  both  ideas  and  expressions  by  listening  to  conver- 
sation ;  breaks  his  toys  to  see  how  they  are  made ;  displays  also 
his  constructive  ability  by  cutting  out  boats  and  paper  figures. 
But  he  has  sympathy  as  well  as  curiosity.  He  makes  friends, 
learns  to  love  them,  to  yield  up  his  own  inclinations  to  theirs ; 
imitates  their  sayings  and  doings,  good  and  bad ;  adopts  their 
notions,  becomes  like  them.  He  has  also  a  conscience,  which, 
when  awakened,  decides,  though  in  an  uncertain  manner,  on  the 
moral  quality  of  his  actions  ',  and  lastly  he  has  a  will,  which  is 
swayed  by  this  self-love,  curiosity,  sympathy,  and  conscience. 

This  is  a  slight  sketch  of  the  moral  forces  which  the  educator 
has  to  control  and  direct.  Now  every  teacher  is  conscious  that  he 
can,  and  does  every  day,  by  his  personal  character,  by  the  economic 
arrangements  of  the  school,  by  his  general  discipline,  by  special 
treatment  of  individual  cases,  exercise  a  considerable  influence 
over  these  moral  phenomena ;  and  must  confess  that  the  extent  of 
this  influence  is  generally  measured  by  his  own  knowledge  of 
human  nature,  and  that  when  he  fails  it  is  because  he  forgets 
or  is  ignorant  of  some  elementary  principle  of  that  nature.  If 
he  allows  this,  he  must  allow  that  a  larger  acquaintance  with  the 
principles  on  which  human  beings  act,  —  the  motives  which  in- 
fluence them,  —  the  objects  at  which  they  commonly  aim,  —  the 
passions,  desires,  characters,  manners  which  appear  in  the  world 


THE  THEORY   OF   EDUCATION.  83 

around  him  and  in  his  own  constitution,  —  would  proportionately 
increase  his  influence. 

But  these  are  the  very  matters  illustrated  by  the  Science  of 
Morals,  or  Moral  Philosophy,  and  the  educator  will  be  greatly 
aided  in  his  work  by  knowing  its  leading  principles. 

For  what  is  the  object  of  moral  training  ?  Is  it  not  to  give  a 
wise  direction  to  the  moral  powers,  —  to  encourage  virtuous  inclina- 
tions, sentiments,  and  passions,  and  to  repress  those  that  are  evil, 
—  to  cultivate  habits  of  truthfulness,  obedience,  industry,  temper- 
ance, prudence,  and  respect  for  the  rights  of  others,  with  a  view 
to  the  formation  of  character? 

This  enumeration  of  the  objects  of  moral  training  presents  a 
wide  field  of  action  for  the  educator  ;  yet  a  single  day's  experience 
in  any  large  school  will  probably  supply  the  occasion  for  his  deal- 
ing with  every  one  of  them.  How  important  it  is,  then,  that  he 
should  be  well  furnished  with  resources. 

Every  earnest  educator,  moreover,  will  confess  that  he  has  much 
to  learn,  especially  in  morals,  from  his  pupils.  To  be  successful, 
he  must  study  his  own  character  in  theirs,  as  well  as  theirs  in  his 
own.  Coleridge  has  well  put  this  in  these  lines  :  — 

"O'er  wayward  childhood  would'st  thou  hold  firm  rule, 
And  sun  thee  in  the  light  of  happy  faces? 
Love,  Hope,  and  Patience  —  these  must  be  thy  graces; 
And  in  thine  own  heart  let  them  first  keep  school." 

A  little  story  from  Chaucer  illustrates  the  same  point.  I  give 
it  in  his  own  words  :  —  "A  philosopher,  upon  a  tyme,  that  wolde 
have  bete  his  disciple  for  his  grete  trespas,  for  which  he  was 
gretly  amoeved,  and  brought  a  yerde  to  scourge  the  child ;  and 
whan  the  child  saugh  the  yerde,  he  sayde  to  his  maister,  '  What 
thenke  ye  to  do?  'I  wolde  bete  the,'  quod  the  maister,  '  for  thi 
correccioun.'  '  Forsothe,'  quod  the  child,  '  ye  oughte  first  correcte 
youresilf  that  han  lost  al  youre  pacieuce  for  the  gilt  of  a  child.' 
4  Forsothe,'  quod  the  maister,  al  wepying,  '  thou  saist  soth ;  have 
thou  the  yerde,  my  deere  sone,  and  correcte  me  for  myn  impa- 
cience.' '  This  master  was  learning,  we  see,  in  the  school  of  his 
own  heart,  and  his  pupil  was  his  teacher. 

Time  does  not  allow  of  our  entering  more  in  detail  into  the 
question  of  moral  training,  and  showing  that  the  great  object  of 
moral,  like  that  of  physical  and  intellectual  education,  is  to  develop 
force,  with  a  view  to  the  pupil's  self-action.  Unless  this  point  is 
gained  —  and  it  cannot  be  gained  by  preceptive  teaching  —  little  is 


84  THE   THEORY   OF   EDUCATION. 

gained.  Our  pupil's  character  is  not  to  be  one  merely  for  holiday 
show,  but  for  the  daily  duties  of  life  —  a  character  which  will  not 
be  the  sport  of  every  wind  of  doctrine,  but  one  in  which  virtue  — 
moral  strength,  —  is  firmly  embodied.  Such  a  character  can  only 
be  formed  by  making  the  child  himself  a  co-operator  hi  a  process 
of  formation. 

If  I  have  not  specially  referred  to  religious,  as  a  part  of  moral 
education,  it  is  because  no  truly  religious  educator  can  fail  to  make 
it  a  part  of  his  system  of  means.  As  for  the  case  of  the  teacher 
whose  every-day  life  shows  that  he  is  not  influenced  himself  by  the 
religion  which  he,  as  a  matter  of  form,  imposes  upon  his  pupils,  I 
have  great  difficulty  in  conceiving  of  him  as  a  teacher  of  morals 
at  all. 

I  have  now  completed  the  general  view  I  proposed  to  take  of 
the  relation  of  the  educator  to  his  work  ;  and  the  gist  of  all  that  I 
have  said  is  contained  in  the  simple  proposition,  that  he  ought  to 
know  his  business,  if  he  wishes  to  accomplish  his  objects  in  the 
best  way.  The  deductions  from  this  proposition  are,  —  that,  as 
his  business  consists  in  training  physical,  mental,  and  moral  forces, 
he  ought  to  understand  the  nature  of  these  forces,  both  in  their 
statical  and  dynamical  condition,  at  rest  and  in  action,  and  should 
therefore  study  Physiology,  Psychology,  Ethics,  and  Logic,  which 
explain  and  illustrate  so  many  of  the  phenomena  ;  *  that  he  should, 
moreover,  study  them,  as  embodied  in  the  practice  of  the  great 
masters  of  the  art.  Inspired  thus  with  a  noble  ideal  of  his  work, 
he  will  gradually  realize  it  in  his  practice,  and  become  an  ac- 
complished educator.  He  will  meet  with  many  difficulties  in  this 
self-training,  but  the  advantages  he  gains  will  more  than  compen- 
sate him.  None  can  know  better  than  himself  —  none  so  well  — 
the  trials,  disappointments,  fainting  of  heart,  and  defeats  that  his 
utmost  skill  cannot  always  turn  into  victories,  which  he  will  have 
to  encounter ;  but  then,  on  the  other  hand,  few  can  know  as  he 
does  those  moments  of  wonderful  happiness  which  fall  to  his  lot 
when  he  sees  his  work  going  on  well ;  when,  in  the  improved  health, 
the  increased  intellectual  and  moral  power  of  his  pupils,  he  re- 
cognizes the  result  of  measures  which  he  has  devised,  of  principles 

*  The  late  Mr.  Fletcher,  Inspector  of  Schools,  thus  enforces  the  same  doctrine :  —  "  The 
Intellectual  faculties  can  never  be  exercised  thoroughly  but  by  men  of  sound  logical  training, 
perfect  In  the  art  of  teaching;  hence  there  exist  so  few  highly-gifted  teachers.  In  fact,  there 
are  none  but  men  of  some  genius  who  are  said  to  have  peculiar  tact,  which  it  is  impossible  to 
imitate :  but  I  am  anxious  to  see  every  part  of  the  fine  art  of  Instruction  redeemed  from  hope- 
lew  concealment  under  such  a  word,  and  made  the  subject  of  rational  study  and  improved 
training." 


THE   THEORY   OF   EDUCATION.  35 

which  he  has  learnt  from  the  school  without,  from  the.  school 
within,  and  from  the  ripe  experience  and  thought  of  the  fellow- 
laborers  of  his  craft.  At  such  momeuts,  fraught  with  the  spirit  of 
the  great  artist,  who  exclaimed  iu  his  enthusiasm,  "  Ed  io  anche 
souo  pittore  ;  "  he  also  exclaims,  "  And  I  too  am  an  educator !  " 
This  enthusiasm  will  be  more  common  when  educators  entertain  a 
more  exalted  conception  of  their  profession. 

That  the  educater  cannot  fully  realize  his  conception,  is  no  argu- 
ment against  his  keeping  it  constantly  in  view,  to  stimulate  his 
zeal  and  guide  his  practice.  The  eduation  of  aims  and  achieve- 
ments must,  after  all,  be  an  indeterminate  one  ;  but  we  approach 
nt'urer  and  nearer  to  its  solution,  by  a  high  assumption  for  the 
aims.  "We  strive,"  as  Coleridge  says,  "to  ascend,  and  we 
ascend  in  our  striving." 

Nothing  has  been  said  of  the  value  of  Physiology,  Psychology, 
&c.,  to  the  educator  merely  as  a  man,  not  as  a  professional  man. 
But  it  is  easy  to  see  that  it  must  be  great.  Nor  have  they  been 
pointed  out  as  subjects  of  direct  instruction  for  his  pupils ;  yet 
surely  it  is  important  that  he  should  be  able  to  give  in  his  classes 
elementary  lessons  on  all  these  subjects,  particularly  on  Physiology. 
The  nomenclature,  at  least,  and  the  rudiments  of  Psychology  may 
be  advantageously  learned  by  elder  pupils,  and  the  elements  of 
Logic  should  certainly  form  a  part  of  the  instruction  of  students 
of  Euclid  and  grammatical  analysis. 

But  beyond  the  theoretical  treatment  of  the  Science  of  Edu- 
cation, I  have  a  practical  object  in  view.  I  wish  to  show  that 
there  is  a  strong  presumption  that  the  educator  of  our  day  needs 
education  in  his  art.  Individual  teachers  may  deny  this  for  them- 
selves —  they  generally  do  —  but  they  freely  admit  it  with  regard 
to  their  rivals  in  the  next  street,  or  the  next  town.  Generalize 
this  admission,  and  all  we  ask  for  is  granted.  But  there  is  a  test 
of  a  different  kind  which  disposes  of  the  question  —  the  test  of 
results.  "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  If  the  fruit  is 
good,  the  tree  is  good.  If  the  large  majority  of  schools  are  in  a 
satisfactory  condition,  then  the  educator  is  doing  his  work  well ; 
for  "  as  is  the  master,  so  is  the  school  "  — which  means,  to  speak 
technically,  that  the  results  of  a  system  of  education  are  not  as  the 
capabilities  of  the  pupil,  nor  as  the  external  school  machinery,  but 
as  the  professional  preparedness  of  the  educator.  If,  then,  the 
large  majority  of  schools  are  unsatisfactory,  it  is  because  the 
teacher  is  unsatisfactory..  And  that  they  are  so,  is  proved  by  every 
test  that  can  be  applied.  All  the  Commissions  on  Education  — 


36  THE  THEORY   OF   EDUCATION. 

whether  primary,  secondary,  or  advanced  —  tell  the  same  tale, 
pronounce  the  same  verdict  of  failure  ;  and  that  verdict  would  have 
been  more  decided  had  the  judges  been  themselves  educators. 
Dealing  with  a  subject  which  they  know  mostly  as  amateurs,  not 
as  experts,  they  are  not  competent  to  estimate  the  results  by  a 
scientific  standard ;  they  therefore  reckon  as  good  much  that  is 
really  bad  ;  for  the  value  of  a  result  in  education  mainly  depends 
on  the  manner  in  which  it  has  been  gained.  Yet  even  these  esti- 
mators severally  declare  that  the  educational  machinery  of  this 
country  is  working  immensely  under  the  theoretical  estimate  of  its 
power.  The  "  scandalously  small"  results  of  the  Public  School 
education  are  paralleled  or  exceeded  by  those  of  the  Middle  Class 
and  Primary  Schools  ;  and  in  cases  of  primary  schools  where  this 
epithet  would  not  apply,  we  find  that  the  superiority  is  due  to  the 
preliminary  training  of  the  teacher. 

What,  again,  is  to  be  said  of  the  evidence  furnished  by  such  a 
statement  as  the  following,  which  we  extract  from  the  Athenaeum 
of  March  27,  1869  :  —  "A  petition  was  last  week  presented  to  the 
House  of  Commons  from  the  Council  of  Medical  Education, 
stating  that  the  maintenance  of  a  sufficient  medical  education  is 
very  difficult,  owing  to  the  defective  education  given  in  middle  class 
schools.  A  similar  complaint  was  made  in  a  petition  from  the 
British  Medical  Association,  numbering  4000  members.  In  a  third 
petition,  proceeding  from  the  University  of  London,  it  was  stated 
that  during  the  last  10  years  40  per  cent,  [it  has  since  been  more 
than  50  per  cent.]  of  the  candidates  at  the  Matriculation  examina- 
tions have  failed  to  satisfy  the  examiners." 

Once  more,  Sir  John  Lefevre,  describing,  in  1861,  the  mental 
condition  of  the  candidates  for  the  Civil  Sen-ice  who  came  before 
him  for  examination,  refers  to  "the  incredible  failures  in  ortho- 
graphy, the  miserable  writing,  the  ignorance  of  arithmetic.  "It 
is  comparatively  rare,"  he  says,  "  to  find  a  candidate  who  can  add 
correctly  a  moderately  long  column  of  figures."  Some  improve- 
ment has  taken  place,  no  doubt,  during  the  last  ten  years  under 
the  influence  of  the  examination  of  the  College  of  Preceptors,  and 
those  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  but  the  main  difficulty  remains 
much  the  same. 

This,  then,  is  the  evidence,  or  rather  a  part  of  the  evidence  which 
attests  the  unsatisfactory  results  of  our  middle  class  teaching.  But 
we  repeat,  "  as  are  the  teachers,  so  are  the  schools  ;  "  and,  there- 
fore, without  hesitation  make  the  teachers  directly  responsible  for 
these  results.  Had  they  been  masters  of  their  art,  these  results 


THE  THEORY   OF   EDUCATION.  37 

would  have  been  impossible ;  and  they  are  not  masters  of  their 
art,  because  they  have  not  studied  its  principles,  nor  been  scien- 
tifically trained  in  its  practice. 

The  true  remedy  has  been  suggested  by  many  eminent  men,  not 
merely  by  teachers.  It  consists  in  teaching  the  teacher  how  to 
teach,  in  training  the  trainer,  in  educating  the  educator. 

Thus,  Dr.  Gull,  after  complaining  of  the  insufficient  education 
of  youths  who  are  to  study  medicine,  said  (Evidence  before  Schools 
Enquiry  Commission)  that  "  improvement  must  begin  with  the 
teachers.  Anyone  is  allowed  to  teach.  There  is  no  testing  of  the 
teacher.  I  think  he  should  be  examined  as  to  his  power  of  teaching 
and  his  knowledge."  "  The  subjects  (for  his  preparation)  should 
include  the  training  of  the  senses,  and  the  intellect,  and  the  teach- 
ing of  the  moral  relations  of  man  to  himself  and  his  neighbor." 

Mr.  Robson,  in  his  evidence  before  the  same  Commission,  said, 
"  We  should  require  certificates  of  teachers  showing  that  knowledge 
has  been  attained,  and  also  some  knowledge  of  Mental  Philosophy 
in  connection  with  the  art  of  teaching.  Every  teacher  has  to  act 
on  the  human  mind,  and  unless  he  knows  the  best  methods  of  so 
acting,  it  is  quite  impossible  he  can  exercise  his  powers  to  the  best 
advantage."  The  evidence  of  Messrs.  Howson,  Besant,  Goldwin 
Smith,  Best,  and  others,  was  to  the  same  effect. 

The  assistant  Commissioners,  Messrs.  Bryce,  Fearon,  and  espe- 
cially Mr.  Fitch,  make  the  same  complaints  of  the  want  of  training 
for  the  teacher.  Mr.  Fitch  —  who  has  every  right  to  be  heard  on 
such  a  point,  for  he  thoroughly  knows  the  subject,  practically  as 
well  as  theoretically  —  says,  in  his  report  on  Yorkshire  Endowed 
and  Private  Schools,  "  Nothing  is  more  striking  than  the  very  gen- 
eral disregard  on  the  part  of  schoolmasters  of  the  Art  and  Science 
of  Teaching.  Few  have  any  special  preparation  in  it.  Profes- 
sional training  for  middle-class  schoolmasters  does  not  exist  in  this 
country.  It  is  certain  that  many  of  them  would  gladly  obtain  it, 
if  it  were  accessible.  But  at  present  it  is  not  to  be  had."  And 
again,  "  It  is  a  truth  very  imperfectly  recognized  by  teachers,  that 
the  education  of  a  j'outh  depends  not  only  on  what  he  learns,  but 
on  how  he  learns  it,  and  that  some  power  of  the  mind  is  being  daily 
improved  or  injured  by  the  methods  which  are  adopted  in  teaching 
him."  Mr.  Fitch,  in  another  place,*  also  remarks,  "  We  all  know 
instances  of  men  who  understand  a  subject  thoroughly,  and  who 

*  "  The  Professional  Training  of  Teachers  " :  a  paper  read  at  the  Bradford  Meeting  of  the 
Association  for  promoting  Social  Science. 


88  THE  THEORY   OF   EDUCATION. 

are  yet  utterly  incapable  of  teaching  it.  We  have  all  seen  that 
waste  of  power  and  loss  of  time  continually  result  from  the  tenta- 
tive, haphazard,  and  unskilful  devices  to  which  teachers  of  this 
kind  resort.  Yet  we  seem  slow  to  admit  the  obvious  inference 
from  such  experience.  The  art  of  teaching,  like  other  arts,  must 
be  systematically  acquired.  The  profession  of  a  schoolmaster  is 
one  for  which  no  man  is  duly  qualified  who  has  not  studied  it 
thoroughly,  both  in  its  principles  and  in  their  practical  application." 

The  Rev.  Evan  Daniel,  principal  of  Battersea  Normal  School, 
aptly  describes  the  two  main  classes  of  middle-class  teachers. 
1st.  University  men,  "  not  infrequently  of  distinguished  ability  and 
scholarship.  Few  of  them,  however,  have  had  the  advantage  of 
professional  training.  They  enter  on  their  work  with  but  a  slight 
knowledge  of  child-life  ;  the}'  have  never  studied  the  psychological 
principles  on  which  education  should  be  based ;  they  are  almost 
utterly  ignorant  of  the  best  modes  of  teaching,  of  organizing,  and 
of  maintaining  discipline."  These  are  the  teachers,  rather  the 
would-be  teachers,  who,  as  a  distinguished  Head  Master  told  us 
some  time  ago  in  the  Times,  are  to  be  allowed  to  find  out  their  art 
by  victimizing  their  pupils  for  two  whole  years  before  they  become 
worth  anything  to  their  profession.  But  Mr.  Daniel  also  refers  to 
the  other  class  of  teachers,  who,  besides  wanting  everything  that 
the  former  class  want,  also  want  their  mental  cultivation,  and  re- 
main "in  a  state  of  intellectual  stagnation,  discharging  their 
duties  in  a  half-hearted  perfunctory  spirit,  and  finding  them  twice 
as  hard  and  disagreeable  as  they  need  be,  from  the  want  of  suit- 
able preparation  for  them." 

The  arguments  then  from  theory  and  those  from  facts  meet  at 
this  point,  and  demand  with  united  force  that  the  educator  shall 
be  educated  for  his  profession.  But  how  is  this  to  be  brought 
about?  What  is  doing  in  furtherance  of  this  most  important  ob- 
ject? The  answer  to  the  question  must  be  brief,  and  shows  rather 
tentative  efforts  than  accomplished  facts. 

1.  The  training  of   teachers  for  primaiy  schools  is  going  on 
satisfactorily  in  the  Normal  Colleges  of  the  National  and  British 
and  foreign  School  Societies,  so  that  what  is  asked  for  middle- 
class  teachers  is   evidently  possible.     The}'  can  be  trained  into 
better  teachers  than  they  are. 

2.  This  training  of  the  middle-class  teachers,  which  some  decry 
as  quackery  and  others  as  useless,  is  actually  going  on  in  France 
and  Germany  most  satisfactorily.     In  both  countries,  highly  culti- 
vated and  efficient  educators,  with  whom  the  majority  of  English 


THE   THEORY   OF   EDUCATION.  39 

teachers  would  have  no  chance  of  competing,  are  the  everyday 
product  of  their  respective  systems  of  training. 

3.  Our  Government,  in  the  Educational  Council  Bill,  for  the 
present  withdrawn,  provided  "  that  all  teachers  of  endowed  schools 
should  be  registered,  as  persons  whose  qualifications  for  teaching 
have  been  ascertained  by  examinations,  or  by  proved  efficiency 
in  teaching  on  evidence  satisfactory  to  the  Council;"  and  that 
teachers  of  private  schools  might  also  be  entered  on  the  registry, 
by  showing  similar  qualifications. 

4.  The  Scholastic  Registration  Association,  having  for  its  object 
"the  discouragement  of  unqualified  persons  from  assuming  the  office 
of  schoolmaster  or  teacher,"  has  obtained  a  large  share  of  public 
approval,  and  numbers  among  its  members  many  head-masters  of 
public  schools  and  colleges,  as  Drs.  Hornby,  Kennedy,  Haig-Brown 
(President  of  the  Association),  Thring,Collis,  Weymouth,  Schmitz, 
Rigg,  Donaldson,  Jones,  Mitchinson,  the  Revs.  E.  A.  Abbott  and 
F.  \V.  Farrar,  and  many  other  distinguished  friends  of  education. 

5.  The  College  of  Preceptors,  too,  by  the  institution  of  this 
Lectureship,  by  the  re-constitution  of  its  Examinations  for  Teach- 
ers, and  by  its  recent  memorial  to  the  Government  on  Training 
Colleges,  is  showing  itself  fully  alive  to  the  importance  of  the 
subject.     Its  new  examinations  have  just  taken  place,  and  candi- 
dates have  for  the  first  time  been  examined  on  the  principles  of 
Physiology,  Psychology,  Moral  Philosophy  and  Logic,  and  their 
application  to  the  art  of  teaching,  as  well  as  on  their  own  personal 
experience  as  educators.     The  results  have  shown  how  deeply 
needed  is  this  knowledge  of  principles ;  out  of  fifteen  candidates 
only  three  have  satisfied  the  examiners.     We  still  hope,  however, 
by  placing  a  high  standard  before  the  candidates,  and  requiring  an 
earnest  study  of  the  subjects  of  examination,  to  make  our  diplomas 
certificates  of  real  qualification,  as  far  as  written  and  vivd  voce 
examinations  can  test  it. 

Yet  the  real  desideratum,  after  all,  is  Training  Colleges  for 
middle-class  teachers,  Professorships  of  Education  at  our  leading 
Universities,  and  more,  perhaps,  than  all,  a  nobler  conception  of 
education  itself  among  English  teachers. 


In  order  to  illustrate,  to  some  extent,  the  bearing  of  scientific 
principles  upon  educational  practice,  the  papers  set  at  the  recent 
Examination  of  Teachers  at  the  College  of  Preceptors  are  ap- 
pended.    The  primary  questions,  it  will  be  seen,  involve  princi 
pies  ;  the  secondary,  their  application  to  practice. 


40  EXAMINATION   PAPERS. 


COLLEGE   OF  PRECEPTORS.  — EXAMINATION  PAPERS. 
June,  1871. 

THEORY  AND   PRACTICE  OF  EDUCATION. 

I.  PHYSIOLOGY. 

(Third  Class  Candidates  for  the  Associate's  Diploma;  having  had  one  year's 

experience.) 

1.  Give  a  brief  general  view  of  the  functions  of  the  body,  and  their  rela- 
tion to  each  other. 

(a.)  How  would  you  apply  this  knowledge  to  Education?  Show  how  it 
may  be  used  in  cases  of  inattention,  obstinacy,  sullenness,  &c.,  as  well 
as  in  those  of  physical  weakness,  indolence  of  constitution,  <Stc. 

2.  Give  some  account  of  the  process  of  Respiration  and  its  connection 
with  other  functional  processes,  as  well  as  of  the  results  of  its  derangement. 

(a.)  What  use  would  you  make  of  your  knowledge  in  teaching  the  art  of 

Eeading  aloud? 
(6.)  Mention  any  defects  of  Vocalization  common  among  children,  and 

show  how  you  would  treat  them. 

3.  Give  a  brief  account  of  the  structure  of  the  Heart,  and  describe  the 
Circulation  of  the  Blood. 

(a.)  Is  blushing  under  a  charge  of  fault  a  necessary  indication  of  guilt  ? 

,  I.  PHYSIOLOGY. 

(Second  Class  Candidates  for  the  Licentiate's  Diploma;  having  had  two  years' 

experience.) 

1.  Describe  generally  the  functions  of  the  body. 

(a.)  What  is  the  value  of  a  knowledge  of  Physiology  to  the  educator,  with 
a  view  to  promoting  the  health  of  his  pupils?  Give  illustrations. 

2.  Describe  Vesicular  Nerve-substance.     Distinguish  the  Cerebrum  and 
the  Cerebellum.     Explain  what  is  meant  by  "motor  nerves"  and  "reflex 
action."    What  conditions  are  essential  to  Sensation? 

(a.)  Can  you  account  for  differences  of  intelligence  in  different  indi- 
viduals? 

(6.)  Describe  any  vicious  processes  of  Education  which  produce  un- 
healthy brain  action  ;  and  classify  the  results. 

3.  How  far  does  the  health  and  mental  power  of  a  man  depend  on  the 
quantity  and  quality  of  the  air  which  passes  through  his  lungs? 

4.  Explain  briefly  the  connection  between  Physical,   Intellectual,  and 
Moral  Education. 


EXAMINATION  PAPERS.  41 

II.  MENTAL  AND  MORAL  SCIENCE. 
(Third  Class.) 

1.  Why  is  a  classification  of  the  acts  of  the  mind  into  Memory,  Judgment, 
&.C.,  unsatisfactory? 

2.  What  is  meant  by  Attention?   In  what  respects  is  it  the  groundwork  of 
all  mental  education? 

(a.)  How  would  you  cultivate  Attention?  how  correct  Inattention ? 
(b.)  How  far  is  Will  necessary  to  Attention,  and  how  would  you  gain  the 
consent  of  the  Will? 

3.  What  are  the  characteristics  of  a  good  Memory?    How  would  you 
cultivate  Memory? 

(a.)   Distinguish  between  Rote-Memory  and  Rational  Memory. 

4.  To  what  extent  (if  any)  is  corporal  punishment  a  legitimate  agent  in 
education?    How  does  it  act?    What  are  its  effects  on  the  moral  sense? 
Compare  it  with  other  means  of  gaining  the  same  end  ? 


II.  MENTAL  AND  MORAL  SCIENCE,  AND  LOGIC.* 
(Second  Class.) 

1.  What  is  the  relation  between  Mental  and  Moral  Science  ? 

2.  Criticise  the  usual  classification  of  mental  acts,  as  Perception,  Memory, 
&c. 

3.  What  is  Attention  ?    How  connected  with  other  modes  of  intellectual 
actions  ? 

(a.)  How  would  you  cultivate  Attention  ? 

(b.)  To  what  extent  is  Attention  connected  with  the  Will  ?  How  would 
you  gain  the  consent  of  the  Will  ? 

(c.)  Is  it  easier  to  abstract  the  mind  from  touches  or  from  sounds  ?  De- 
scribe the  probable  effect  on  different  temperaments  of  an  organ 
playing  a  popular  air  while  a  lesson  is  going  on.  How  would  you 
act  in  the  different  cases  ? 

4.  What  are  the  chief  phenomena  of  Memory  ?    How  may  Memory  be 
cultivated  ? 

(a.)  Distinguish  between  a  memory  (1)  for  words,  (2)  for  things,  (3)  for 

principles. 

(b.)  What  is  the  connection  of  Memory  with  the  "Association  of  ideas." 
(c.)  Describe  and  discuss  different  modes  of  learning  Latin  Grammar  as 

applications  of  memory. 
(d.)  How  would  you  cause  a  pupil  to  unlearn  ? 

5.  State  and  illustrate  the  law  of  the  "Diffusion  of  Feeling."    What  are 
the  doctrines  opposed  to  this  law  ? 

(a.)  Point  out  the  mistakes,  in  cases  of  sullenness,  sudden  and  violent 
passion,  and  obstinacy,  into  which  an  educator  ignorant  of  this  law 
is  liable  to  fall. 


*  Some  of  the  logic  questions  are  expected  to  be  answered  by  every  Candi- 
date. 


42  EXAMINATION   PAPERS. 

1.  "Logic  is  the  Science  of  the  formal  Laws  of  Thought."    Explain  and 
criticise  this  or  any  other  definition  of  Logic  with  which  you  are  acquainted. 

(a.)  Give  some  examples  showing  the  application  of  Logic  to  Arithmetic 
and  Grammar. 

2.  What  is  the  essential  difference  between  the  propositions  2  -(-  1  =  3, 
and  a  -j-  b  =  c  ? 

(a.)  How  may  this  principle  be  a  guide  to  the  order  of  teaching  ?  Why 
not  teach  Algebra  before  Arithmetic  ? 

3.  Distinguish  between  Induction  and  Deduction. 

(a.)  What  is  the  true  relation  between  facts  and  principles  ?  To  what 
stages  of  mental  development  do  these  processes  respectively  belong? 

(6.)  Give  some  applications  of  Induction  to  (1)  the  teaching  of  Languages, 
(2)  the  teaching  of  Science. 

4.  What  is  a  "  connotative "  term?    What  is  meant  by  its  "  comprehen- 
sion "  and  "  extension"  ? 

(a.)  Take  from  English  Grammar  a  connotative  term,  and  show  how  you 
would  give  the  idea  of  its  comprehension  and  extension. 


III.  LESSON-GIVING,  TREATMENT  OF  CASES,  AND  CRITICISM  OF  METHODS. 
(Second  and  Third  Classes.) 

1.  Write  a  sketch  of  a  lesson  in  "  Division  of  Decimals,"  stating  (1)  pre- 
vious knowledge  acquired ;  (2)  the  principles  to  which  you  would  appeal ; 
(3)  the  order  you  would  adopt  in  development ;  (4)  the  exercises  you  would 
give,  and  the  probable  answers. 

2.  (a.)  A  is  a  child  11  years  old,  quick  in  apprehension,  deficient  in  re- 

tentiveness,  gentle  in  manners,  indifferent  to  regulations. 
(6.)  B  is  13  years  old,  quick,  retentive,  wilful,  obstinate,  pugnacious, 
(c.)  C  is  14  years  old,  of  moderate  capacity,  of  indolent  temperament, 
moody,  thoughtful  in  subjects  of  his  own  choosing,  indifferent  in 
those  proposed  to  him. 

Give  similarly  two  other  cases.     How  would  you  treat  each  and  all  in  (1) 
a  small  school  (2)  a  large  school  of  six  classes  ? 

3.  Draw  out  a  time  table  (30  hours  per  week),  for  boys  leaving  school  at 
(1)  14  years  of  age,  (2)  16  years  of  age,  in  Classics,  Mathematics,  History, 
Geography,  English  Grammar,  French,  Writing,  giving  reasons  for  the  time 
you  assign.     Would  you  include  any  other  subjects  ?  if  so,  what,  and  why  ? 

4.  Mention  any  case  of  difficulty  in  (1)  Teaching,  (2)  Discipline,  which 
you  have  experienced.     Describe  the  causes  of  your  difficulty,  state  the 
course  you  adopted,  and  what  principles  of  Physiology,  Mental  and  Moral 
Science,  you  had  in  view  in  adopting  such  a  course,  and  how  far  you  were 
successful. 


LECTURE  II.' 


THE  Theory  of  Education,  as  explained  m  the  former  Lecture, 
consists  in  an  appreciation  of  the  influences  which  must  be  brought 
to  bear  intentionally,  consciously,  and  persistently  on  a  child,  with 
a  view  to  instruct  him  in  knowledge,  develop  his  faculties,  and 
train  them  to  the  formation  of  habits.  It  was  shown  that  this 
view  of  Education  assumes  that  the  educator  must  himself  study 
and  comprehend  the  nature  of  these  influences ;  and  that  this 
theoretical  study,  aided  by  the  lessons  of  experience,  both  per- 
sonal and  that  of  others,  constitutes  his  own  education. 

Assuming,  then,  the  education  of  the  educator  himself,  which 
involves  a  due  conception  of  the  end  in  view,  we  have  now  to  con- 
sider some  of  the  means  by  which  he  has  to  realize  it,  and  this 
constitutes  the  Practice  or  Art  of  Education. 

I  have  already  disclaimed  the  idea  of  attempting  to  construct  a 
symmetrical  science  of  education,  and  am  not  bound  therefore  to 
deduce  a  symmetrical  art  from  a  theoretical  ideal.  Nor  is  this 
necessary ;  for  whatever  ma}-  be  said  of  the  Theory,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  Art  of  Education  exists,  and  that  its  fundamental 
principles  can  be  evolved  from  its  practice. 

The  Art  of  Education,  strictly  considered,  involves  all  the  means 
by  which  the  educator  brings  his  influence  to  bear  on  his  pupils, 
and  embraces  therefore  organization,  discipline,  school  economics, 
the  regulation  of  studies,  &c.  Our  limited  space,  however,  forbids 
our  entering  on  these  matters,  and  the  "  Art  of  Education  "  will 
in  this  lecture  be  considered  as  only  another  term  for  Teaching  or 
Instruction. 

If  we  observe  the  process  which  we  call  instruction,  we  see  two 
parties  conjointly  engaged  —  the  learner  and  the  teacher.  The  ob- 
ject of  both  is  the  same,  but  their  relations  to  the  work  to  be  done 
are  different.  Inasmuch  as  the  object  can  only  be  attained  by  the 

*  Delivered  nt  the  House  of  the  Society  of  Arts,  on  14th  July,  1871 ;  J.  G.  Fitch,  Esq., 
in  iln-  chair. 


44        THE  PRACTICE  OR  ART  OF  EDUCATION. 

mental  action  of  the  learner,  by  his  observing,  remembering,  &c., 
it  is  clear  that  what  he  does,  not  what  the  teacher  does,  is  the  es- 
sential part  of  the  process.  This  essential  part,  the  appropriation 
and  assimilation  of  knowledge  by  the  mind,  can  be  performed  by 
no  one  but  the  learner  ;  for  the  teacher  can  no  more  think  for  his 
pupil,  than  he  can  walk,  sleep,  or  digest  for  him.  It  is  then  on 
the  exercise  of  the  pupil's  own  mind  that  his  acquisition  of  knowl- 
edge entirely  depends,  and  this  subjective  process,  performed 
entirely  by  himself,  constitutes  the  pupil's  art  of  learning.  If, 
however,  every  act  b}'  which  ideas  from  without  become  incorpo- 
rated with  the  pupil's  mind  in  an  act  which  can  only  be  performed 
by  the  pupil  himself,  it  follows  that  he  is  in  fact  his  own  teacher, 
and  we  arrive  at  the  general  proposition,  that  learning  is  self- 
teaching.  This  psychological  principle  is  of  cardinal  importance 
in  the  art  of  education.  We  see  at  once  that  it  defines  the  function 
of  the  teacher,  the  other  party  in  the  process  of  instruction.  It 
appears,  from  what  has  been  just  said,  that  the  only  indispensable 
part  of  the  process — the  mental  act  by  which  knowledge  is 
acquired  —  is  the  pupil's,  not  the  teacher's  ;  and,  indeed,  that  the 
teacher  cannot,  if  he  would,  perform  it  for  the  pupil.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  experience  of  mankind  shows  that  the  pupil,  however 
capable,  would  not  generally  undertake  his  part  spontaneously,  nor, 
if  he  did,  carry  it  to  a  successful  issue.  The  indispensable  part 
of  the  process  cannot,  it  is  true,  be  done  without  the  mental  exer- 
tion of  the  pupil,  but  it  is  equally  true  that  it  will  not  be  done 
without  the  action  and  influence  of  the  teacher.  The  teacher's 
part  then  in  the  process  of  instruction  is  that  of  a  guide,  director,  or 
superintendent  of  the  operations  by  which  the  pupil  teaches  himself.* 
As  this  view  of  the  correlation  of  learning  and  teaching  assumes 
the  competency  of  the  pupil  to  teach  himself,  it  may  of  course  be 
theoretically  disputed.  It  is  important  then,  to  add  that  the  child 
whom  the  teacher  takes  in  hand  has  already  learned  or  taught  him- 
self a  great  number  of  things.  He  has,  in  fact,  learned  the  use  of 
his  senses,  the  qualities  of  matter,  and  the  elements  of  his  mother- 
tongue,  without  the  aid  of  any  professed  teacher.  The  faculties, 
however,  by  the  use  of  which  he  has  made  these  acquisitions,  are 
the  same  that  he  must  employ  in  his  further  acquisitions,  when  the 

*  "  To  teach  boys  how  to  instruct  themselves —  that,  after  all,  is  the  great  end  of  school- 
work."  —  MARKBY. 

"  The  object  of  all  education  Is  to  teach  people  to  think  for  themselves."  —  "  University  Es- 
tension,"  un  Address  delivered  at  the  request  of  the  Leeds  Ladles'  Education  Association,  by 
James  Stuart,  Fellow  and  Assistant  Tutor  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 


THE  PRACTICE  OR  ART  OF  EDUCATION.       45 

action  and  influence  of  natural  circumstances  are  superseded  by 
those  of  the  professed  teacher. 

A  slight  review  of  the  operation  of  these  natural  circumstances 
—  which  we  may  for  convenience'  sake  call  Nature  —  will  serve  to 
suggest  some  of  the  means  b}*  which  the  teacher,  as  a  superinten- 
dent of  the  pupil's  process  of  self-instruction,  is  to  exercise  his 
proper  action  and  influence. 

How,  then,  does  nature  teach?  She  furnishes  knowledge  by 
object-lessons,  and  she  trains  the  active  powers  by  making  them 
act.  She  has  given  capability  of  action,  and  she  develops  this 
capability  by  presenting  occasions  for  its  exercise.  She  makes 
her  pupil  learn  to  do  by  doing,  to  live  by  living.  She  gives  him 
no  grammar  of  seeing,  hearing,  &c. ;  she  gives  no  compendiums  of 
abstract  principles.  She  would  stop  his  progress  at  the  very 
threshold,  if  she  did.  Action  !  action  !  is  her  maxim  of  training  ; 
and  things  !  things  !  are  the  objects  of  her  lessons.  She  adopts 
much  repetition  in  her  teaching,  in  order  that  the  difficulty  may 
become  easy,  "  use  become  a  second  nature."  In  physical  train- 
ing, '*  use  legs  and  have  legs,"  is  one  of  her  maxims,  and  she  acts 
analogously,  in  regard  to  mental  and  moral  training.  She  teaches 
quietly.  She  does  not  continually  interrupt  her  pupil,  even  when 
he  blunders,  by  outcries  and  objurgations.  She  bides  her  time, 
and  by  prompting  him  to  continued  action,  and  inducing  him  to 
think  about  what  he  is  doing,  and  correct  his  errors  himself,  makes 
his  very  blunders  fruitful  in  instruction.  She  does  not  anxiously 
intervene  to  prevent  the  consequences  of  his  actions  ;  she  allows 
him  to  experience  them,  that  he  may  learn  prudence  ;  sometimes 
even  letting  him  burn  his  fingers,  that  he  may  gain  at  once  a  sig- 
nificant lesson  in  physics,  and  also  learn  the  moral  lesson  involved 
in  the  ministry  of  pain. 

These  are  some  of  the  features  of  Nature's  Art  of  Education, 
and  they  are  all  consistent  with  the  assumption  that  throughout 
her  course  of  instruction  the  pupil  is  teaching  himself. 

We  infer,  then,  from  these  considerations,  that  the  child  whose 
instruction  is  to  be  secured  by  the  guidance  of  the  teacher  has 
already  shown  his  capacity  to  learn,  and  to  learn,  moreover,  with- 
out explanations.  We  remark,  further,  that  an  accurate  analysis 
of  this  process  of  self-tuition,  based  on  the  combined  observations 
and  experiments  of  teachers  carefully  noted  and  compared  together, 
and  generalized  into  principles  of  education,  will,  no  doubt,  in 
time  to  come,  furnish  the  true  canons  of  the  art  of  teaching,  or,  in 
other  words,  that  the  pupil's  subjective  process  of  learning,  when 


46  THE  PRACTICE   OR   ART   OF  EDUCATION. 

thorough!}'  understood,  will  suggest,  with  proper  limitations,  the 
teacher's  counterpart  objective  process  of  teaching. 

The  principle  I  am  contending  for —  that  the  child  is  capable  of 
teaching  himself  without  explanations  — is  indeed  very  generally 
acknowledged  in  word  by  teachers,  who  also  very  generally  repu- 
diate it  in  fact.  They  allow  that  it  is  not  what  they  do  for  their 
pupil,  but  what  he  does  for  himself,  that  gives  him  strength  and  in- 
dependent force :  but  the  multitude  of  directions,  precepts,  warn- 
ings, exhortations,  and  explanations,  with  which  they  bewilder 
and  enfeeble  him,  neutralizes  their  theoretical  acknowledgment  of 
the  principle.  Let  such  teachers  say  what  they  will,  they  virtually 
deny  the  pupil's  native  capacity ;  they  act  on  the  belief  that  he 
cannot  learn  without  explanations,  and  especially  without  their 
explanations. 

This  question  of  the  necessity  of  explanations  is  a  vital  point 
in  our  argument,  and  needs  further  discussion.  Explaining  is 
"flattening,"  or  "  making  level,"  "clearing  the  ground"  so  as 
to  produce  an  even  surface ;  and,  when  applied  to  teaching,  as 
generally  understood,  means  removing  obstructions  out  of  the  way, 
so  as  to  make  the  subject  clear  to  the  pupil,  and  generally  to  do 
this  by  verbal  discourse. 

But  (1),  we  notice  that  Nature,  who  makes  her  pupil  teach 
himself,  gives  no  explanations  of  this  kind.  She  does  not  ex- 
plain the  difference  between  hard  and  soft  objects  —  she  says, 
feel  them  ;  between  this  and  that  fact  —  she  says,  place  them  side 
by  side,  and  mark  the  difference  yourself ;  and  generally  she  says 
to  her  pupil,  don't  ask  me  to  tell  you  any  thing  that  you  can  find 
out  for  yourself. 

(2)  The  question  of  explanations  essentially  involves  those  of 
the  order  of  studies  and  the  method  of  teaching.  If  the  subject 
is  unsuited  to  the  pupil's  stage  of  instruction,  or  if,  instead  of 
presenting  him  with  facts  which  he  can  understand,  we  force 
upon  him  abstractions  which  he  cannot,  we  create  the  need  for 
explanations  ;  and  in  this  case  it  is  not  merely  probable,  but  cer- 
tain, that  most  of  them,  however  elaborate,  will  be  thrown  away. 
We  are,  in  fact,  calling  on  the  immature  faculties  for  an  effort 
which  is  beyond  the  strength  of  the  trained  intellect ;  for  the  man 
has  never  lived  who  can  understand  an  abstract  general  prop- 
osition while  utterly  ignorant  of  the  facts  on  which  it  is  ultimately 
founded.  But  supposing  that  we  admit  the  value  of  explanations 
generally,  and  that  the  explanations  given  are  admirably  clear  in 
themselves,  their  value  to  the  individual  pupil  will  depend,  not  on 


THE  PRACTICE  OR  ART  OF  EDUCATION.       47 

their  absolute  excellence,  but  on  their  relation  to  the  condition  of 
his  mind.  Unless,  then,  the  teacher  has  well  studied  that  mind, 
so  as  to  know  its  individual  history,  its  actual  condition,  and  its 
needs,  much  of  his  explanation  will  "waste  its  sweetness  on  the 
desert  air."  That  portion  only  will  be  received  and  assimilated 
for  which  the  previous  instruction  has  prepared  the  mind,  and  all 
the  rest  will  flow  away  and  leave  no  impression  whatever  behind  it. 
And,  in  general,  it  may  be  laid  down  as  a  practical  principle  of 
teaching,  that  long  elaborate  explanations  are  entirely  out  of  place 
in  a  class  of  children.  They  do  not  generally  quicken,  but  rather 
quell,  attention.  The  children,  indeed,  consider  that,  though  it 
may  be  the  teacher's  duty  to  preach,  it  is  no  necessary  part  of 
theirs  to  heed  the  preaching.  This  work,  as  they  generally  take  it, 
is  the  proper  occasion  for  their  play  ;  and  this  play,  without  out- 
ward manifestation,  may  be  going  on  uproariously  in  that  inner 
playground  where  the  teacher  cannot  set  his  foot.  Rousseau,  in 
his  interesting  if  somewhat  romantic  "  Emile,"  gives  the  following 
opinion  on  this  subject — I  adopt  Mr.  Quick's  translation  :  —  "  I  do 
not  at  all  admire  explanatory  discourses ;  young  people  give  little 
attention  to  them,  and  never  retain  them.  Things  !  things  !  I  can 
never  enough  repeat  it,  that  we  make  words  of  too  much  conse- 
quence. With  our  prating  modes  of  education,  we  make  nothing 
but  praters." 

Now  in  these  cases  the  teacher  fails  because  he  does  not  follow 
Nature.  The  pupils  for  whom  he  "clears  the  ground"  would 
have  cleared  it  themselves  if  he  had  known  how  to  direct  them, 
and  would  have  been  the  stronger  for  the  exercise. 

Having  thus  indicated  Nature's  art  of  teaching,  as,  in  a  general 
way,  the  archetype  of  the  educator's,  it  is  important  now  to  say 
that  it  is  not  to  be  implicitly  followed. 

(1.)  Nature's  teaching  is  desultory.  She  mingles  lessons  in 
physics,  language,  morality,  all  together.  Her  main  business  seems 
to  b,e  the  training  of  faculty,  and  she  subordinates  to  this  the 
orderly  acquisition  of  knowledge  by  her  pupils.  We  are  to  imitate 
Nature  in  training  faculty,  but  with  a  definite  aim  as  regards 
subjects. 

(2.)  Nature' s  teaching  is  often  inaccurate;  not,  however,  from 
any  defect  in  her  method,  but  from  inherited  defects  in  her  pupils. 
If  she  has  not  originally  given  a  sound  brain,  she  does  not  generally 
herself  improve  upon  her.  handiwork.  The  impressions  received 
by  a  feeble  brain  become  blurred,  imperfect  conceptions,  and 
Nature  often  leaves  them  so.  It  is  the  educator's  business, 


48  THE   PRACTICE   OR   ART   OF   EDUCATION. 

however,  to  endeavor  to  improve  upon  her  labors,  —  to  ascertain 
the  original  fault,  and  by  apt  exercises  to  amend  it. 

(3.)  Nature's  teaching  often  appears  to  be  ocerdone.  She  gives 
ten  thousand  exercises  to  develop  faculty,  but  she  continues  to 
give  them  when  that  purpose  is  answered.  The  educator  is  to 
imitate  her  in  very  frequently  repeating  his  lessons,  but  to  cease 
when  the  object  is  gained. 

(4.)  Nature  does  not  secure  the  results  of  her  lessons  with  a  direct 
aim  to  mental  and  moral  improvement.  She  exercises  various 
powers  to  a  certain  extent  and  with  certain  objects  }  but  she  does 
not  prompt  to  their  improvement  beyond  this  point,  nor  exercise 
them  equally  upon  objects  unconnected  with  animal  wants  and 
instincts.  We  are  to  imitate  Nature  in  gaining  such  results  for 
our  pupils  as  she  gains,  but  we  are  to  go  beyond  her  in  securing 
these  results  as  a  means  to  the  attainment  of  a  higher  platform  of 
knowledge  and  power. 

(5.)  Nature  accustoms  her  f>upils  to  little,  and  that  the  simplest, 
generalization.  For  any  care  that  she  takes,  the  materials  suitable 
for  this  process  may  remain  unquickened  throughout  the  whole  of 
a  man's  life.  The  educator  is  to  imitate  Nature  in  prompting  his 
pupils  to  generalize  on  facts,  but  to  surpass  her  in  carrying  them 
forward  in  practice. 

(6.)  Nature  is  relentless  in  her  discipline.  She  takes  no  account 
of  extenuating  circumstances.  To  disobey  is  to  die.  She  not  only 
punishes  the  offender  for  his  offence,  but  often  makes  him  suffer 
for  the  offences  of  others.  She  involves  him  in  all  the  conse- 
quences of  his  actions,  and  often  gives  him  no  opportunity  for 
repentance.  The  educator,  on  the  other  hand,  while  allowing  his 
pupil  to  be  visited  by  the  consequences  of  his  actions,  is  to  prevent 
ruinous  consequences  —  to  give  him  room  for  repentance,  to  love 
the  offender  while  punishing  the  offence,  and  to  allow  for  extenu- 
ating circumstances. 

Nature's  teaching,  then,  while  in  general  the  model  of  the  e.du- 
ca tor's,  requires  adaptation,  extension,  and  correction,  in  order  to 
make  the  best  use  of  it.  The  old  adage,  "  Art  improves  Nature," 
applies  undoubtedly  to  the  art  of  education,  a  truth  which  even 
Pestalozzi  —  certainly  himself  a  choice  specimen  of  Nature's 
teaching,  a  head  boy  in  her  school  —  failed,  as  we  shall  see,  to 
appreciate. 

The  upshot  of  what  has  been  said  hitherto  is  this,  that  the 
natural  process  by  which  the  mind  acquires  knowledge  and  power 
is  a  process  of  self-education,  —  that  the  educator  should  recognize 


THE   PRACTICE   OR  ART   OF   EDUCATION.  49 

that  process  as  a  guide  to  his  practice,  suggesting  both  what  he 
should  aim  at  and  what  he  should  avoid.  To  this  it  is  very  im- 
portant to  add,  that  his  success  in  carrying  out  his  object  will 
greatly  depend  upon  his  being  furnished  with  the  resources  of  his 
science.  A  thousand  unforeseen  difficulties,  arising  from  the  indi- 
vidual personal  characteristics  of  his  pupils,  will  occur  in  the 
progress  of  his  work,  and  demand  the  exercise  of  his  utmost  skill 
and  moral  courage  for  their  treatment.  It  is  here,  quite  as  much 
as  in  the  normal  action  of  the  machinery  that  he  is  directing,  that 
the  value  of  his  own  education  as  an  educator  will  be  found.  It  is 
the  "  unusual  circumstances  "  referred  to  by  Mr.  Grove,  that  call 
for  that  "plasticity" — that  multiform  power  of  applying  prin- 
ciples, which  distinguishes  the  scientifically  trained  from  the 
routine  teacher. 

I  will  now  illustrate  my  subject  by  presenting  two  typical  speci- 
mens of  the  Art  of  Teaching.  In  the  first  the  teacher  fully  recog- 
nizes the  competency  of  his  pupils  to  learn  or  teach  themselves 
without  any  explanations  whatever  from  him,  and,  accordingly  he 
gives  them  none  ;  at  the  same  time,  however,  he  earnestly  employs 
himself  in  directing  the  forces  under  his  command,  and  sees  in  the 
self-instruction  of  his  pupils,  the  result  of  his  action  and  influence. 
In  the  second  instance  the  teacher  acts  on  the  presumption  that 
the  pupil's  success  depends  rather  on  what  is  done  for  him  than  on 
what  he  does  for  himself. 

Suppose  that  the  object  be  to  give  a  lesson  on  a  simple  machine 
—  say  the  pile-driving  machine  —  in  its  least  elaborate  form.  I 
scarcely  need  say  that  it  consists  of  two  strong  uprights,  well 
fastened  into  a  solid,  broad  block  of  wood,  as  a  basis,  and  sup- 
plied with  two  thick  ropes,  one  on  each  side,  which  are  laid  over 
pities  at  the  top  of  the  uprights,  and  employed  to  draw  up  a 
heavy  mass  of  iron,  the  fall  of  which  on  the  head  of  the  pile 
drives  it  into  the  earth.  Two  or  three  men  at  each  rope  supply 
the  motive  power. 

Let  a  large  working  model  of  the  machine  be  so  placed  that  all 
the  pupils  of  the  class  may  see  and  have  access  to  it.  The  teach- 
er's object  is  to  make  this  machine  the  means  of  communicating 
knowledge  and  of  drawing  forth  their  intellectual  powers.  He  has 
no  need  to  tell  them  to  look  at  it.  The  image  of  it,  as  a  whole,  is 
at  once  impressed  upon  their  minds.  The  teacher  need  not  tax  his 
ingenuity  to  devise  methods  for  gaining  their  attention.  Their 
attention  is  already  on  the  full  stretch.  Their  curiosity  is  largely 
excited  —  their  eyes  wide  open,  and  4i  unsatisfied  with  seeing."  — 


50  THE  PRACTICE   OR  ART   OF   EDUCATION. 

"  What  can  it  be  ?  What  will  it  do  ?  "  He  tells  them  the  purpose 
of  it,  and  nothing  more,  —  "It  is  a  contrivance  for  driving  piles 
into  the  ground."  They  are  eager  to  see  it  in  action. 

It  is  now  at  rest,  the  weight  resting  on  the  head  of  the  pile. 
The  teacher  directs  two  of  the  children,  one  on  each  side,  to  lay 
hold  of  the  ropes  and  pull  up  the  weight,  telling  the  class  that  the 
weight  is  called  a  monkey  —  a  fact  which  they  will  certainly  re- 
member. [Names  and  conventionalities  which  they  cannot  find 
out  for  themselves,  he  must,  of  course,  tell  them ;  but  telling  of 
this  kind  is  not  explanation.]  Well,  the  monkey  is  drawn  up 
gradually,  until  the  clutch  relaxes  its  hold,  and  down  it  falls,  to 
their  immense  delight.  This  is  the  first  experiment.  Let  all  the 
children  try  it — all  pull  up  the  weight  with  their  own  hands,  and 
gain  an  idea,  by  personal,  individual  experience,  of  the  resistance 
of  the  weight.  This  experience  involves  muscular  sensibility,  sen- 
sation, and  a  rudimentary  notion  of  force.  The  children  by  this 
time,  have  an  idea  of  the  machine,  and  begin  to  conceive  the  rela- 
tion between  the  end  and  the  means  —  between  the  problem  to  be 
solved  and  the  means  of  solving  it.  The  pile  evidently  gives  wa}^ 
under  the  repeated  blows  of  the  monkey.  Let  the  monkey  be 
weighed,  and  another  substituted  heavier  or  lighter.  What  is  the 
result  now  ?  Use  the  measuring  scale  to  see  exactly  how  much  the 
pile  moves  under  the  different  weights. '  Why  are  the  results  differ- 
ent ?  [These  mechanical  acts  of  weighing  and  measuring  exactly 
are  not  to  be  despised  ;  they  are  fraught  with  practical  instruction.] 
Next,  let  the  height  from  which  the  weight  falls  be  gradually 
varied,  until  there  is  no  height,  and  the  weight  merely  rests  on  the 
head  of  the  pile,  as  at  first.  What  is  gained  by  the  motion  of  the 
weight?  Try  the  experiment  many  times — weigh,  measure,  judge. 
When  is  weight  acting  alone  ?  —  when  along  with  motion  ?  The 
children  form  a  conception  for  themselves  of  momentum;  and  when 
the  thing  is  understood  the  technical  name  may  be  given.  Next,  let 
the  weight  be  detached  and  placed  on  an  inclined  plane  —  a  slant- 
ing board.  Why  does  it  move  now  less  easily  than  it  did  when 
it  was  free  ?  Alter  the  inclination  ;  try  all  the  possible  varieties  of 
slope.  When  is  the  motion  easiest?  The  pupils  gain  the  idea  of 
friction,  and  may  have  the  name  given  them.  Let  the  clutch  be  ex- 
amined. How  does  it  act?  Why  hold  the  weight  so  firmly  at  one 
moment  and  let  it  go  the  next?  Try  the  experiment,  handle  it, 
attach  it  to  the  weight?  Does  it  hold  the  weight  firmly?  Why 
does  it  let  the  weight  go  at  the  right  moment?  Again,  suppose 
the  weight  were  made  of  wood,  lead,  putty,  &c.,  instead  of  iron. 


THE  PKACTICE  OR  ART  OF  EDUCATION.       51 

Try  these  substances  for  the  weight.     Why  are  they  less  suitable 
for  the  purpose  than  iron  ? 

Attach  weights  to  the  ropes,  and  see  whether  they  may  be  so 
contrived  as  to  supersede  the  manual  labor.  "What  are  the  clifli- 
culties  in  doing  this?  Can  they  be  overcome ?  What  is  the  use  of 
the  pulleys?  Remove  them,  and  pull  at  the  ropes  without  them. 
What  difference  is  there  now  in  the  ease  of  motion. 

Could  any  one  devise  another  machine  for  driving  piles,  or  any 
other  contrivance  for  doing  the  work  of  this  better?  Let  every 
one  think  of  this  before  the  next  lesson,  and  bring  his  model  with 
him.  The  teacher  sums  up  the  results  of  the  lesson,  and  tells  the 
pupils  to  write  them  down  before  him.  He  examines  their  papers, 
and  makes  them  correct  the  blunders  themselves.  The  lesson  is 
concluded. 

Now  in  this  lesson  we  have  a  typical  specimen  of  the  self- 
teaching  of  the  pupils  under  the  superintendence  of  the  teacher. 
If  teaching  means,  as  stated  in  books  on  the  subject,  the  com- 
munication of  knowledge  by  the  explanations  of  the  teacher,  he 
has  taught  them  nothing.  Of  that  kind  of  teaching  which  Mr. 
Wilson  of  Rugby  calls  "the  most  stupid  and  most  didactic" 
meaning  that  the  most  didactic  is  the  most  stupid  —  we  have  here 
not  a  trace.  The  teacher  has  recognized  his  true  function  as 
simply  a  director  of  the  mental  machinery  which  is,  in  fact,  to  do 
all  the  work  itself ;  for  it  is  not  he,  but  his  pupils,  that  have  to 
learn,  and  to  learn  by  the  exercise  of  their  own  minds.  He  has 
constituted  himself,  therefore,  as  (if  the  expression  may  be  par- 
doned) a  sort  of  outside  will  and  mind,  to  act  on  and  co-operate 
with  the  wills  and  minds  of  his  pupils.  He  is  the  primum  mobile 
which  sets  the  machinery  in  motion,  and  maintains  and  regulates 
the  motion  ;  but  the  work  that  it  does,  the  results  that  it  gains, 
are  not  his  work  nor  his  results,  but  the  machinery's.  In  the  case 
of  the  human  machinery  —  the  children's  minds,  which  are  not 
dead  matter,  but  living  organisms  —  he  Las  had  to  supply  motives 
to  action,  sympathy  and  encouragement — to  apply,  indeed  all  the 
resources  of  his  science.  But  still  he  is  simply  the  superintendent 
or  director  of  the  operations  which  constitute  the  learning  or  self- 
teaching  of  the  pupils  ;  and  the  intrusion  of  those  explanations, 
which  some  consider  the  essence  of  teaching,  would  have  hindered 
and  frustrated  the  efficiency  of  those  operations.  For,  in  the  case 
before  us,  why  should  he  explain,  and  what  has  he  to  explain? 
The  machine  is  its  own  interpreter.  It  answers  those  who  interro- 
gate it  in  the  emphatic  and  eloquent  language  of  facts  —  a  Ian- 


52  THE  PRACTICE   OR   ART   OF   EDUCATION. 

guage  which  the  children  understand  without  explanations  ;  and  it 
practises  them  abundantly  in  what  Professor  Huxley  aptly  calls 
the  "  logic  of  experiment ;  "  and  if  it  says  nothing  about  abstrac- 
tions and  first  principles,  which  they  could  not  comprehend,  it  lays 
before  them  the  proper  groundwork  for  these  mental  deductions, 
ready  for  the  superstructure  of  science  when  the  proper  time 
comes.  And  until  this  groundwork  of  facts  is  laid,  the  teacher 
may  strain  his  mind  and  break  his  heart  in  his  anxiety  to  give  ex- 
planations. In  fact,  none  that  he  can  give  will  be  equal  in  value 
to  those  given  silently,  powerfully,  and  effectually  by  the  machine 
itself.  It  is  clear,  then,  that  nothing  would  be  gained  by  his  ex- 
planations, and  that  they  are  therefore  unnecessary. 

Without  dwelling  now  on  all  the  points  of  interest  contained  in 
the  lesson  that  I  have  described,  which  will  be  summarized  here- 
after, I  invite  attention  especially  to  two  or  three. 

(1.)  We  notice  the  pleasurable  feeling  of  the  children  thus 
|  actively  engaged  in  the  free  exercise  of  their  own  powers  —  seeing, 
handling,  experimenting,  discovering,  investigating,  and  inventing 
for  themselves.  This  feeling  will,  by  the  necessary  laws  of  asso- 
ciation, always  accompany  the  remembrance  of  the  lesson.  Is 
not  this  in  itself  an  immense  gain  both  for  teacher  and  pupils  ? 

But  (2)  there  is  another  very  important  gain  for  the  pupils  thus 
educating  themselves.  It  is  an  approved  principle  of  the  science 
of  education  that  it  should  be  the  aim  of  the  educator  not  merely 
to  train  faculty,  but  to  induce  in  his  pupils  the  power  of  exercising — 
it  without  his  aid  —  in  other  words,  to  make  the  pupils  independent 
of  the  teacher.  Now  as,  in  the  case  before  us,  the  children  have 
gained  their  knowledge  by  the  exercise  of  their  own  faculties  — 
have  observed,  experimented,  &c.,  for  themselves,  they  cannot  but 
have  gained  a  rudimentary  consciousness  that  they  could,  without 
the  teacher,  go  through  the  same  process  in  acquiring  the  knowl- 
edge of  another  machine.  This  consciousness  of  power,  may,  as 
I  have  said,  be,  at  the  end  of  the  first  lesson,  merely  rudimentary ; 
but  -it  will  gain  strength  as  they  proceed,  and  the  final  result  of 
such  teaching  will  be  that  they  will  acquire  the  valuable  habit  of 
independent  mental  self-direction.  An  eminent  French  teacher 

rused  to  be  laughed  at  for  saying  that  he  was  continually  aiming  to 
make   himself  useless  to  his   pupils.     The  silly  laughers   thought 
that  he  had  made  a  blunder,  and  meant  to  say  —  useful.     But  they 
were  the  blunderers. 

(3.)    It  is  a  noticeable  point  in  the  process  decribed  that  it  led 
the  children  to  discover,   investigate,   and  invent  on  their   own 


THE  PRACTICE   OR  ART   OF   EDUCATION.  53 

i 

account.  They  were  continually  conscious  of  the  pleasure  of 
finding  things  out  for  themselves.  They  were  continually  making 
advances,  however  feeble,  in  the  very  path  that  the  first  discoverers 
of  knowledge  of  the  same  kind,  and  indeed  of  every  kind,  had 
trod  before  them.  Though  only  little  children,  they  were  uncon- 
sciously adopting  the  method  of  the  scientific  investigator,  and 
becoming  trained,  though  as  yet  but  very  imperfectly,  in  his  spirit. 
Should  they  subsequently  give  themselves  up  to  scientific  inquiry, 
they  will  not  change  their  method,  for  it  is  even  now  essentially 
that  of  scientific  investigation.  The  value  of  this  plan  of  learn- 
ing is  aptly  pointed  out  in  a  well-known  passage  from  Burke' s 
essay  on  "The  Sublime  and  Beautiful."  "I  am  convinced,"  he 
says,  u  that  the  method  of  teaching  [or  learning]  which  approaches 
most  nearly  to  the  method  of  investigation  is  incomparably  the 
best ;  since,  not  content  with  serving  up  a  few  barren  and  lifeless 
truths  [such  as  abstractions,  general  propositions,  formulae,  &c.], 
it  leads  to  the  stock  on  which  they  grew  ;  it  tends  to  set  the  reader 
[or  learner]  himself  on  the  track  of  invention,  and  to  direct  him 
into  those  paths  in  which  the  author  [or  scientific  investigator] 
has  made  his  own  discoveries."  It  is  obvious  that  our  children, 
engaged  in  investigating  and  dicoveriug  for  themselves,  were  pre- 
cisely in  the  position,  with  regard  to  their  subject,  which  is  described 
in  these  words. 

But  their  native  inventive  faculty  was  also  exercised.  They 
would  be  sure,  before  the  next  lesson,  to  take  the  hint  given  them 
by  the  teacher,  and  would  be  ready  with  various  contrivances  for 
modifying  the  pile-driving  machine.  When  I  say  this  I  speak 
from  experience,  not  conjecture.  I  have  myself,  when  engaged  in 
reading  a  simple  narrative  with  a  class  of  children,  and  meeting 
with  a  reference  to  some  gate  to  be  burst  open  by  mechanical 
means,  or  some  bridge  to  be  extemporized  in  a  difficult  emergency, 
simply  said,  "  try  to  invent  a  contrivance  for  accomplishing  these 
objects,  and  show  me  to-morrow  your  notions  by  a  drawing  and 
description,"  and  have  never  failed  to  receive  a  number  of  .rude 
sketches  of  schemes  more  or  less  suited  to  the  purpose,  but  all 
showing  the  intense  interest  excited  by  the  devotion  of  their  minds 
to  the  object.  I  am  persuaded  that  teachers  generally  overlook 
half  the  powers  latent  in  the  minds  of  their  pupils ;  they  do  not 
ci'edit  children  with  the  possession  of  them,  and  therefore  fail  to 
call  them  out.  An  instructive  instance  of  a  different  mode  of 
proceeding  is  furnished  by  the  experience  of  Professor  Tyndall, 
when  he  was  a  teacher  in  Queeuwood  School.  The  quotation  is 


54  THE  PEACTICE   OR  ART   OF   EDUCATION. 

rather  long,  but  it  is  too  valuable  to  be  omitted.  "  One  of  the 
duties,"  he  says,  in  his  Lecture  at  the  Royal  Institution,  On  the 
Study  of  Physics  as  a  branch  of  Education,  "  was  the  instruction 
of  a  class  in  mathematics,  and  I  usually  found  that  Euclid,  and  the 
ancient  geometry  generally,  when  addressed  to  the  understanding, 
formed  a  very  attractive  study  for  youth.  But  [mark  the  but  /]  it 
was  my  habitual  practice  to  withdraw  the  boys  from  the  routine  of 
the  book,  and  to  appeal  to  their  self-power  in  the  treatment  of 
questions  not  comprehended  in  that  routine.  At  first  the  change 
from  the  beaten  track  usually  excited  a  little  aversion  ;  the  youth 
felt  like  a  child  among  strangers ;  but  in  no  single  instance  have  I 
found  this  aversion  to  continue.  When  utterly  disheartened,  I 
have  encouraged  the  boy  by  that  anecdote  of  Newton,  where  he 
attributes  the  difference  between  him  and  other  men  mainly  to  his 
own  patience  ;  or  of  Mirabeau,  when  he  ordered  his  servant,  who 
had  stated  something  to  be  impossible,  never  to  use  that  stupid 
word  again.  Thus  cheered,  he  has  returned  to  his  task  with  a 
smile,  which  perhaps  had  something  of  doubt  in  it,  but  which 
nevertheless  evinced  a  resolution  to  try  again.  I  have  seen  the 
boy's  eye  brighten,  and  at  length,  with  a  pleasure  of  which  the 
ecstacy  of  Archimedes  was  but  a  simple  expansion,  heard  him  ex- 
claim, '  I  have  it,  sir !  '  The  consciousness  of  self-power  thus 
awakened  was  of  immense  value  ;  and  animated  by  it,  the  progress 
of  the  class  was  truly  astonishing.  It  was  often  my  custom  to 
give  the  boys  their  choice  of  pursuing  their  propositions  in  the  book, 
or  of  trying  their  strength  at  others  not  found  there.  Never  in  a 
single  instance  have  I  known  the  book  to  be  chosen.  I  was  ever 
ready  to  assist  when  I  deemed  help  needful,  but  my  offers  of 
assistance  were  habitually  declined.  The  boys  had  tasted  the 
sweets  of  intellectual  conquest,  and  demanded  victories  of  their 
own.  I  have  seen  their  diagrams  scratched  on  the  walls,  cut 
into  the  beams  of  the  play-ground,  and  numberless  other  illus- 
trations of  the  living  interest  they  took  in  the  subject.  .  .  . 
The  experiment  was  successful,  and  some  of  the  most  delightful 
hours  of  my  existence  have  been  spent  in  marking  the  vigorous 
and  cheerful  expansion  of  mental  power  when  appealed  to  in  the 
manner  I  have  described."  This  is  indeed  a  striking  illustration 
of  the  true  art  of  teaching,  as  consisting  in  the  mental  and 
moral  direction  of  the  pupils'  self-education ;  and  the  result 
every  one  can  see,  was  the  acquisition  of  something  far  more 
valuable  than  the  knowledge  of  geometry.  They  gained,  as  an 
acquisition  for  life,  a  knowledge  of  themselves,  a  consciousness  of 


THE  PRACTICE   OR   ART   OF   EDUCATION.  55 

both  mental  and  moral  power,  which  all  the  didactic  teaching  in 
the  world  could  never  have  given  them.  All  teachers  should 
learn,  and  practise,  the  lesson  conveyed  by  such  an  example  of 
teaching  as  this. 

Now,  taking  the  former  instance  as  a  typical  specimen  of  the 
art  of  teaching,  let  us  consider  what  is  involved  in  it,  and  gather 
from  it  a  confirmation  of  the  views  already  given  of  the  relation 
of  the  educator  to  his  pupils,  of  the  Science  of  Education  to  the 
Art. 

"NVr  see  (1)  that  the  pupil,  teaching  himself  under  the  direction 
of  the  educator,  begins  with  tangible  and  concrete  facts  which  he 
can  comprehend,  not  with  abstract  principles  which  he  cannot. 
lie  sees,  handles,  experiments  upon  the  machine ;  observes  what 
it  is,  what  it  does,  draws  his  own  conclusions  ;  and  thus  health- 
fully exercise  his  senses,  his  powers  of  observation,  his  judg- 
ment ;  and  prepares  himself  for  understanding,  at  the  proper 
time,  general  propositions  founded  on  the  knowledge  that  he  has 
acquired. 

(2.)  That,  in  teaching  himself  —  in  gaining  his  knowledge  — 
he  employs  a  method,  the  analytical,  which  lies  in  his  own  power, 
not  the  synthetical,  which  would  require  the  teacher's  explanations, 
yet  that  he  employs  also  the  synthetical,  when  called  on  to  exercise 
his  combining  and  constructive  faculty.  He  employs  the  analytical 
method  in  resolving  the  machine  into  its  parts,  its  actions  into 
their  several  constituents  and  means,  and  the  synthetical  when  he 
uses  the  knowledge  thus  gained  for  interpreting  other  parts  and 
other  actions  of  the  machine,  and  when  he  applies  this  knowledge 
to  the  invention  of  other  contrivances  not  actually  contemplated 
by  the  machine-maker. 

(3.)  That,  in  being  made  a  discoverer  and  explorer  on  his  own 
account,  and  not  merely  a  passive  recipient  of  the  results  of  other 
people's  discoveries,  he  not  only  gains  mental  power,  but  finds  a 
pleasure  in  the  discoveries  made  by  himself,  which  he  could  not 
find  in  those  made  by  others. 

(4.)  That  in  teaching  himself,  instead  of  being  taught  by  the 
explanations  of  the  teacher,  he  proceeds,  and  can  only  proceed,  in 
exact  proportion  to  his  strength,  gaining  increased  knowledge 
just  at  the  time  that  he  wants  it  —  at  the  very  moment  when  the 
increment  will  naturally  become,  to  use  a  happy  expression  of  Mr. 
Fitch,  "incorporated  with  the  organic  life  of  his  mind."  It  is 
needless  to  add,  that  he  advances  in  this  self-teaching,  from  the 
known  to  the  unknown,  for  the  process  he  employs  leaves  no  other 
course  open  to  him. 


56  THE  PRACTICE   OR   ART   OF   EDUCATION. 

(5.)  That,  in  teaching  himself  in  this  way,  he  learns  to  reason 
both  on  the  relation  of  facts  and  the  relation  of  ideas  to  each  other : 
and  that  thus  the  "  logic  of  experiment "  leads  him  to  the  logic  of 
thought. 

(6.)  That,  in  this  process  of  self- teaching,  he  acquires  a  fund 
of  knowledge  and  of  mental  conceptions,  which,  by  the  natural 
association  of  ideas,  forms  the  groundwork  or  nucleus  to  which 
other  knowledge  and  other  conceptions  of  the  same  kiad  will  sub- 
sequently attach  themselves  ;  the  machine  which  he  knows,  becom- 
ing a  sort  of  alphabet  of  mechanics,  by  means  of  which  he  will  be 
able  to  read  and  understand,  in  some  degree,  other  machines. 

(7.)  That  the  knowledge,  thus  gained  by  the  action  of  his  own 
mind,  will  be  clear  and  accurate,  as  far  as  it  goes,  because  it  has 
been  gained  by  his  own  powers.  He  may,  indeed  have  to  modify 
his  first  notions,  to  acknowledge  to  himself  that  his  observations 
were  imperfect,  his  conclusions  hasty ;  but  if  not  interfered  with 
by  unseasonable  meddling  from  without,  his  mind  will  correct  its 
own  aberrations,  and  be  much  the  stronger  for  being  required  to 
do  this  itself.  (You  will  remember  Professor  Tyndall's  experience 
in  teaching  geometry.) 

(8.)  That,  by  teaching  himself  in  this  special  case,  he  is  on  the 
way  to  acquire  the  power  of  teaching  himself  generally,  to  gain  the 
habit  of  mental  self  direction,  of  self  power,  the  very  end  and 
consummation  of  the  educator's  art. 

In  order  to  illustrate  my  point  still  more  clearly,  by  force  of 
contrast,  I  will  give  a  sketch  of  another  mode  of  teaching,  very 
commonly  known  in  schools,  taking  the  same  subject  for  the  lesson 
as  before. 

The  teacher,  whose  operations  we  are  now  to  observe,  has  a 
notion  —  a  very  common  one  —  that  as  rules  and  general  principles 
are  compendious  expressions  representing  many  facts,  he  can 
economize  time  and  labor  by  commencing  with  them.  They  are 
so  pregnant  and  comprehensive,  he  thinks,  that  if  (your  if  is  a 
great  peace-maker)  he  can  but  get  his  pupils  to  digest  them,  they 
will  have  gained  much  knowledge  in  a  short  time.  This  remark- 
able educational  fallacy  I  have  already  referred  to.  Our  teacher, 
however  (not  knowing  the  science  of  education,  which  refutes  it), 
assumes  its  truth,  takes  up  a  book  (a  great  mistake  to  begin  with, 
to  teach  science  from  a  book !),  and  in  order  to  be  quite  in  form 
(scientific  form  being  the  very  opposite  to  this) ,  reads  out  from 
it  a  definition  of  a  machine  :  "A  machine  is  an  artificial  work  which 
serves  to  apply  or  regulate  moving  power  ;"  or  another  to  the  same 


THE  PKACTICE   OB  ART   OF   EDUCATION.  57 

effect:  "A  machine  is  an  instrument  formed  by  two  or  three  of 
the  mechanical  powers,  in  order  to  augment  or  regulate  force  or 
motion."  Now  the  men  who  wrote  these  definitions  were  scientific 
men,  already  acquainted  with  the  whole  subject,  and  they  summed 
up  in  these  few  words  the  net  result  of  their  observation  of  a  great 
number  of  machines,  so  as  logically  to  differentiate  a  machine  from 
everything  else.  Their  definitions  were  intended  for  the  mature 
minds  of  students  of  science,  and  were  therefore  framed  in  a 
scientific  manner.  This  logical  arrangement  is,  however,  the  very 
opi>osite  to  that  in  which  the  science  was  historically  developed, 
and  which  is  the  only  one  possible  for  the  child  who  teaches  him- 
self. Our  teacher,  uninformed  in  the  science  of  education  which 
disposes  of  this  and  so  many  other  questions  belonging  to  the  art, 
implicitly  follows  the  good  old  way,  and  reads  out,  as  I  have  said, 
the  definition  of  a  machine.  The  pupils,  who  are  quite  disposed  to 
learn  whatever  really  interests  them,  listen  attentively,  but  not 
knowing  anything  about  "  moving  power  "  or  "  force  "  nor  what  is 
meant  by  augmenting  or  regulating  it,  nor  what  "  mechanical 
powers  "  are,  at  once  perceive  that  this  is  a  matter  which  does  not 
concern  them,  and  very  sensibly  turn  their  minds  in  another  direc- 
tion. The  vivid  curiosity  and  sympathy  manifested  in  the  other 
instance  are  wanting  here.  These  pupils  have  no  curiosity  about 
the  entirely  unknown,  and  no  sympathy  with  the  teacher  who 
presents  them  with  the  entirely  unintelligible.  The  teacher  per- 
ceives this,  and  endeavors  to  "  clear  the  ground,"  evidently  filled 
with  stumbling-blocks  and  brambles,  by  an  explanation:  — "A 
machine,"  he  says,  (no  machine  being  in  sight)  "is  an  artificial 
work,  that  is,  a  work  made  by  art."  (Boy,  really  anxious  to  learn 
something  if  he  can,  thinks,  "What  is  art?"  He  has  heard, 
perhaps,  of  the  art  of  painting,  but  what  has  a  machine  to  do  with 
painting?)  The  teacher  proceeds:  "A  machine  you  see  [the 
children  see  nothing]  is  an  artificial  work  (that  is,  a  work  made 
by  art),  which  serves  to  apply,  augment  (that  is  add  to)  and 
regulate  (that  is,  direct)  moving  force  or  power ;  you  know  what 
that  is  of  course  —  [The  teacher  instinctively  avoids  explaining 
the  mechanical  force  of  a  mere  idea]  —  by  combining  or  putting 
together  two  or  more  of  the  mechanical  powers  —  that  is,  levers, 
pulleys,  &c.  — I  need  not  explain  these  common  words,  everybody 
knows  what  they  mean ;  —  so  now  you  see  what  a  machine  is. 
What  is  a  machine?  "  A.  B.  answers,  "  A  machine  is  a  moving 
power."  C.  D.,  "It  is  something  which  adds  force."  "Adds 
force  to  what?"  C.  D.  still,  "to  pulleys  and  levers."  "How 


58  THE   PEACTICE   OR   ART   OF   EDUCATION. 

stupid  you  all  are  !  "  groans  out  the  teacher,  "  there  is  no  teach- 
ing you  anything!"  At  that  moment,  E.  F.,  a  practical  boy, 
gets  a  glimmering  of  the  truth,  and  says,  "A  steam  engine  is  a 
machine."  This  is  an  effort  of  the  boy  to  dash  through  the  en- 
tanglement of  the  words,  and  make  his  way  up  to  the  facts.  The 
teacher,  however,  at  once  throws  him  back  again  into  the  meshes, 
by  saying,  "Well  then,  apply  the  definition."  Boy  replies,  "I 
don't  understand  the  definition."  "Not  understand  the  definition  ! 
"Why,  I  have  explained  every  word  of  it ;  "  and  so  on.  He  reads 
the  definition  again,  questions  his  pupils  again  upon  it  with  the 
same  result.  He  perceives  that  he  has  failed  altogether  in  his 
<object.  All  his  explanations,  which  have  been  nothing  more  than 
\explanations  of  words,  not  of  things,  (a  very  common  error  in 
teaching)  have  failed  to  "  clear  the  ground,"  which  remains  as 
of  stumbling-blocks  and  brambles  as  ever.  A  bright  thought 
strikes  him.  He  introduces  a  picture  of  a  machine  —  say  of  the 
pile-driving  machine  —  (not  the  machine  itself) ,  and  a  consider- 
able enlightenment  of  the  darkness  at  once  takes  place.  There  is 
now  something  visible,  if  not  tangible.  Curiosity  and  sympathy 
are  awakened,  and  some  of  the  ends  of  teaching  are  secured,  and 
more  would  be  secured  but  that  the  teacher  still  confines  himself  to 
reading  from  his  book  a  description  of  the  machine,  though  he 
occasionally  interpolates  explanations  of  the  technical  words  that 
occur.  But  the  picture  is,  after  all,  a  dead  thing  ;  all  its  parts  are 
in  repose  or  equilibrium ;  and  the  pupils,  after  giving  their  best 
attention  to  it,  see  in  it  scarcely  any  illustration  of  the  terms  of 
the  definition  through  which  they  have  labored  so  painfully.  The 
pictured  machine  represents  "  moving  power"  by  not  moving  at 
all,  and  "force"  by  doing  nothing,  while  it  leaves  the  "me- 
chanical powers  ' '  an  entirely  unsolved  mystery .  They  depart 
from  the  lesson  with  a  number  of  confused  notions  of  "moving 
power,"  "  augmentation  of  force,"  "  mechanical  powers,"  "pile- 
driving,"  "monkeys,"  and  "  clutches,"  while  the  mental  discip- 
line they  have  acquired  is  an  absolute  nullity.  Their  minds  have 
indeed  never  once  been  brought  into  direct  vital  contact  with  the 
matter  they  were  to  learn.  The  thing  itself,  the  machine,  has  been 
withheld  from  them  ;  nothing  but  a  representation,  possibly  a  mis- 
representation, of  it,  has  been  seen,  at  a  distance,  in  a  state  of 
dead  repose.  Instead,  therefore,  of  observing  themselves  its 
action,  they  have  been  told  what  somebody  else  has  observed ; 
instead  of  trying  experiments  upon  it  with  their  own  hands,  they 
have  been  treated  with  a  description  of  somebody  else's  experi- 


THE   PRACTICE   OR  ART   OF   EDUCATION.  59 

ments  ;  instead  of  being  required  to  form  a  judgment  of  their  own 
on  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect,  as  seen  in  the  action  and  re- 
action of  forces,  they  have  been  made  acquainted  with  the  judg- 
ments of  others,  and  the  general  result  of  the  whole  lesson  prob- 
ably is,  that  while  they  have  been,  no  doubt,  deeply  impressed  with 
the  learning  and  science  of  their  teacher  (and  especially  of  his 
book) ,  they  have  left  the  class  still  more  deeply  impressed  with 
the  determination  that,  if  this  is  science,  they  will  have  as  little  as 
possible  to  do  with  it.* 

Now  the  teacher,  in  this  case,  may  be  credited  with  earnestness, 
zeal,  industry,  knowledge  of  his  subject  (though  he  had  better  have 
thrown  away  his  book) ,  with  all  the  knowledge  in  short  that  goes 
to  the  making  of  a  teacher,  except  (but  the  exception  is  rather 
important)  a  knowledge  of  the  art  of  teaching. 

These  specimens  of  the  art  of  teaching  strikingly  illustrate  the 
principles  before  insisted  on.  It  has  been  maintained  that  there 
is  an  inherent  capacity  in  the  child  who  has  taught  himself  to 
speak  and  walk,  to  teach  himself  other  things,  provided  that  they 
are  things  of  the  same  kind  as  he  has  learnt  already.  Now  all 
children,  not  being  born  idiots,  are  capable  of  taking  part  in  such 
a  lesson  as  I  have  described  —  can  employ  their  senses  upon  the 
concrete  matter  of  the  machine,  observe  its  phenomena,  make  ex- 
periments themselves  with  it,  and  gain  more  or  less  knowledge  by 
this  active  employment  of  their  minds  upon  it.  And  the  same 
would  be  true  of  lessons  on  other  concrete  matter  —  on  flowers, 
stones,  animals,  &c.  In  fact,  these  children  have  been  taught  all 
their  lives  by  contact  with  concrete  matter  in  some  shape  or  other, 
and  the  teacher  who  understands  his  science  will  see  that  there  is 
no  other  possible  path  to  the  abstract.  It  is  obvious,  then,  that 
rudimentary  lessons  on  the  properties  of  matter,  in  continuation 
of  those  already  received  from  natural  circumstances,  should  con- 
stitute the  earliest  instruction  of  a  child  ;  and  our  typical  lesson  con- 
clusively shows  that  such  instruction  is  attainable,  and  most  valuable, 
not  only  for  its  own  sake,  but  with  a  view  to  mental  development. 

It  is  also  shown  that  when  the  subject  of  instruction  is  judi- 
ciously chosen,  the  pupil  needs  no  verbal  explanations.  The  lesson 
in  question  is  a  specimen  of  teaching  in  which,  in  accordance  with 
the  theory  with  which  we  set  out,  oil  the  work  on  which  the  mental 
acquisition  depends  is  absolutely  and  solely  done  by  the  pupil,  while 

*  "  There  Is  no  use,  educationally,  in  telling  you  simply  the  results  to  which  I  have  come. 
But  the  true  method  of  education  is  to  show  you  a  road,  by  pursuing  which  you  cannot  help 
arriving  at  these  results  for  yourselves."  —  "  University  Extension,"  ubi  supra. 


60  THE   PRACTICE   OR   ART   OF  EDUCATION. 

the  teacher's  action  and  influence,  which  originate  and  maintain  the 
pupil's  work,  is  confined  to  guidance  and  superintendence. 

Many  arguments  might  be  adduced  to  show  that  the  principle, 
that  the  main  business  of  {he  teacher  is  to  get  the  pupil  to  teach  him- 
self, lies  at  the  basis  of  the  entire  art  of  Instruction.  The  teacher 
who,  by  whatever  means,  secures  this  object,  is  an  efficient  artist  -, 
he  who  fails  in  this  point,  fails  altogether ;  and  the  various  grades 
of  efficiency  are  defined  by  the  degree  of  approximation  to  this 
standard.* 

The  principle  itself  is  recognized  unconsciously  in  the  practice 
of  all  the  best  teachers.  Such  teachers,  while  earnestly  intent  on 
the  process  by  which  their  pupils  are  instructing  themselves, 
generally  say  little  during  the  lesson,  and  that  little  is  usually  con- 
fined to  direction.  Arnold  scarcely  ever  gave  an  explanation  ;  and 
if  he  did,  it  was  given  as  a  sort  of  reward  for  some  special  effort 
of  his  pupils  ;  and  his  son,  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold,  tells  us  that  such 
is  the  practice  of  the  most  eminent  teachers  of  Germany. 

If  further  authority  for  the  theoretical  argument  be  needed,  it 
may  be  found  in  the  words  of  Rousseau,  who,  recommending 
*'  self-teaching"  (his  own  word) ,  says,  —  "  Obliged  to  learn  by  him- 
self, the  pupil  makes  use  of  his  own  reason,  and  not  that  of  others. 
From  the  continual  exercise  of  the  pupil's  own  understanding  will 
result  a  vigor  of  mind,  like  that  which  we  give  the  body  by  labor 
and  fatigue.  Another  advantage  is,  that  we  advance  only  in  pro- 
portion to  our  strength.  The  mind,  like  the  body,  carries  only 
that  which  it  can  carry.  But  when  the  understanding  appropriates 
things  before  depositing  them  in  the  memory,  whatever  it  after- 
wards draws  from  thence  is  properly  its  own."  Again  :  "  Another 
advantage,  also  resulting  from  this  method,  is,  that  we  do  not  ac- 
custom ourselves  to  a  servile  submission  to  the  authority  of  others  ; 
but,  by  exercising  our  reason,  grow  every  day  more  ingenious  in 
the  discovery  of  the  relations  of  things,  in  connecting  our  ideas, 
and  in  the  contrivance  of  machines ;  whereas,  by  adopting  those 

*  "  All  the  best  cultivation  of  a  child's  mind,"  says  Dr.  Temple,  "is  obtained  by  the  child's 
own  exertions,  and  the  master's  success  may  be  measured  by  the  degree  in  which  he  can  bring 
his  scholars  to  make  such  exertions  absolutely  without  aid." 

.  .  .  "That  divine  and  beautiful  thing  called  teaching;  that  excellent  power  whereby  we 
are  enabled  to  help  people  to  think  for  themselves;  encouraging  them  to  endeavors,  by  dex- 
terously guiding  those  endeavors  to  success;  turning  them  from  their  error  just  when,  and  no 
sooner  than,  their  error  has  thrown  a  luminousness  upon  that  which  caused  it;  carefully- 
leading  them  Into  typical  difficulties,  of  which  the  very  path  we  lead  them  by  shall  itself  ong- 
gest  the  solution ;  sometimes  gently  leading  them,  sometimes  leaving  them  to  the  resource 
of  their  own  unaided  endeavors;  till,  little  by  little,  we  have  conducted  them  through  a 
process  in  which  it  would  be  almost  impossible  for  them  to  tell  'how  much  is  their  own 
discovery,  how  much  is  what  they  have  been  told."  —  "  University  Extension,"  ubi  supra. 


APPENDIX  TO   LECTURE   II.  61 

which  arc  put  into  our  hands,  our  invention  grows  dull  and  indif- 
ferent, as  the  man  who  never  dresses  himself,  but  is  served  in 
everything  by  his  servants,  and  drawn  about  everywhere  by  his 
horses,  loses  by  degrees  the  activity  and  use  of  his  limbs." 
("Essays  on  Educational  Reformers,"  p.  135.) 

These  views  of  the  fundamental  principles  involved  in  the  Art 
of  teaching,  it  will  be  seen,  are  not  novel.  The  only  novelty  is  in 
the  mode  of  stating  them.  Practical  teachers  will  candidly  judge, 
by  reference  to  their  own  experience,  of  their  value  and  import- 
ance. 


APPENDIX. 

I.  —  ETYMOLOGY  OF   "LEARN"  AND   "TEACH." 

A  brief  investigation  into  the  original  meaning  of  these  words  may  be  in- 
teresting to  some  readers,  as  throwing  some  light  upon  the  theory  of  the 
text. 

'Learn  (Old  English,  lerneri)  is  a  modification  of  the  primitive  English  (or 
Anglo-Saxon)  korn-ian,  which  is  itself  a  derivative  of  A.S.  ter-an  (Old  Eng- 
lish, fer-en),  to  teach.  The  relation  between  ter-an  and  fern-ian  is  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  in  the  Moeso-Gothic  language,  an  elder  sister  of  our  own 
English,  there  was  a  class  of  verbs  distinguished  from  certain  simpler  forms 
by  an  epenthetic  n,  which  suggested  a  reflexive  or  passive  meaning.  Thus 
M.G.  luk-&n  means  to  shut  or  lock  up,  but  Zufcn-an,  to  lock  oneself  up,  or  be 
locked  up ;  also  wak-&n,  to  wake  another ;  wakn-&n,  to  wake  oneself,  to  be 
awake.  Wo  find  traces  of  this  usage  in  A.S.  eac-an,  to  augment;  eacn-i&n, 
to  augment  oneself,  be  pregnant ;  rfraie-an,  to  drench ;  drencn-i&n,  to  drench 
oneself,  be  dronched,  drown ;  airac-an,  to  wake  up  another ;  awcEcn-i&n,  to 
wake  oneself  up,  be  waked  up;  and  therefore  ter-an,  to  teach  another; 
kom-ian,  to  teach  oneself — i.  e.  to  learn.*  As,  however,  the  director  of  a 
work  often  gets  the  credit  duo  to  his  subaltern,  so  the  person  who  directed  the 
pupil  to  learn  was  formerly  said  —  and  the  usage  still  exists  provincially  —  to 
learn,  lern,  or  larn  his  pupil.  Hence  we  find  in  Piers  Plowman  (v.  4756), 
"Who  lernede  thce  on  boke?"  also,  in  Cranmer's  version  of  the  Psalms  (Ps. 
cxix.  66),  "O  learne  mee  true  understanding  and  knowledge;"  and,  in  the 
"Tempest,"  Caliban  says,  "The  red  plague  rid  you  for  learning  me  your 
language,"  though  he  had,  in  the  same  sentence,  said,  "You  taught  me 
language." 

But  what  does  the  original  root  leer  mean?  It  is  evidently  equivalent  to 
M.G.  Jaw,  lets,  les,  8  being  interchangeable  with  r,  as  in  German  eisen  com- 
pared with  iron  (Old  Eng.,  iren)  and  hose  =  hare.  But  M.G.  tats  or  tea  is 

*  See  on  these  traces  of  a  passive  In  nnc'ent  English.  Rev.  Oswald  Cockayne's  Notes,  Noa. 
43,  44,  appended  to  his  edition  of  "  SU  Marhartte."  (Early  English  Text  Society.) 


62  APPENDIX  TO   LECTURE  n. 

identical  with  German  ks  in  lea-en,  and  signifies  to  gather  together,  acquire, 
glean,  as  in  the  provincial  word  leasing,  gleaning  or  gathering  up.  The 
primitive  meaning  of  the  root  A.S.  fcer  =  M.G.,  lais,  lea,  though,  as  in  learn 
=  teach,  the  causative  sense  to  make  to  gather,  acquire,  or  learn  must  have 
been  early  superadded.  On  the  whole,  then,  it  appears  that  to  learn  is  to 
gather  up  or  glean  for  oneself,  i.  e.,  to  teach  onself. 

But  the  correlative  teach  must  be  briefly  examined.  The  root  appears  as 
teih,  in  M.G.  teih-en ;  zeig,  in  German  zeig-en ;  tax,  in  A.S.  teo-an ;  die,  doc, 
in  Latin  dic-ere,  dt(c)-scere,  tfoc-ere ;  and  in  Greek  KtiK-wfii ;  and  in  all  these 
cases  means  to  point  out,  show ;  direct,  lead  the  way  —  i.  e.,  teach.  Thus  dic- 
ere  means  to  show  in  words,  to  say ;  doc-ere,  to  show  the  way ;  di(c)scere,  to 
show  oneself  the  way,  to  learn.  The  same  idea  is  conveyed  by  the  French 
equivalents  montrer  and  enseigner,  both  meaning  to  teach.* 

The  etymology,  then,  of  both  learn  and  teach  supports,  by  the  instinctive 
genius  of  language,  the  theory  that  learning  is  gathering  up  or  gleaning  for 
oneself,  and  teaching  the  guiding,  directing,  and  superintending  of  tho 
process. 


II.  —  ON  BOTANY  AS  A  STUDY  SUITED  TO  TRAIN  THE  OBSERVING  POWERS 

OF  CHILDREN. 

Since  the  foregoing  Lecture  was  delivered,  I  have  met  with  a  work  which 
remarkably  illustrates  the  principles  on  which  I  have  insisted.  It  is  en- 
titled "The  First  Book  of  Botany,  Designed  to  Cultivate  the  observing 
Powers  of  Children.  By  Eliza  A.  Youmans.  (New  York :  Appleton  &  Co. ; 
London :  Appleton  &  Co.,  Little  Britain,  1871.) "  The  method  pursued  is  one 
by  which  the  pupil  teaches  himself,  by  exercising  his  mind  —  unaided  by  the 
explanations  of  the  teacher  —  on  the  flowers,  leaves,  and  objects  generally 
of  the  vegetable  world.  It  is,  therefore,  a  practical  illustration  of  the  prin- 
ciple that  ' '  tho  main  business  of  the  teacher  is  to  get  the  pupil  to  teach 
himself,"  and  this  little  book  admirably  shows  how  it  may  be  carried  out. 
In  selecting  Botany  as  a  subject  fitted  for  this  purpose,  by  the  abundance  of 
materials  that  it  furnishes,  and  by  the  simplicity  of  its  elementary  facts, 
the  author  has  manifested  a  wise  discretion.  Nor  is  her  method  a  merely 
theoretical  scheme;  it  is  based  on  practical  experience.  The  object  she 
considers  so  desirable  she  has  herself  accomplished,  and  her  work  shows 
how  other  teachers  may  accomplish  it  also.  I  cannot  do  better  than 
present,  in  the  words  of  the  preface,  the  purpose  of  the  book. 

(1.)  It  lays  the  foundation  for  a  knowledge  of  Botany  in  the  only  true 
^a,y.  by  providing  for  the  actual  and  regular  study  of  plants  themselves. 
This  practice  is  enforced  by  the  plan  of  the  book. 

(2.)  It  provides  for  a  systematic  training  in  the  art  of  observation.  The 
book  simply  guides  the  pupil,  but  he  must  work  his  own  way  —  examining, 
searching,  comparing,  judging,  and  describing  the  objects  as  he  finds  them. 

*  A  curious  instance  of  the  use  of  the  word  teach  has  been  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Farrar,  who 
quotes  Judges  vlH.  6:  —  "Gideon  took  thorns  of  the  wilderness  and  briars,  and  with  these  he 
taught  the  men  of  Succoth."  Gideon's  plan  of  teaching  is  hardly  yet  obsolete. 


EDUCATIONAL  METHODS.  C3 

(3.)  This  plan  first  supplies  the  long-recognized  deficiency  of  object- 
teaching,  by  reducing  it  to  a  method  and  connecting  it  with  an  established 
branch  of  school-study.  Instead  of  desultory  practice  in  noting  the  discon- 
nected properties  of  casual  objects,  the  exercises  are  made  systematic,  and 
the  pupil  is  trained  not  only  to  observe  the  sensible  facts,  but  constantly  to 
put  them  in  those  relations  of  thought  by  which  they  become  organized 
knowledge. 

The  objects  here  described  are  strictly  carried  out,  and  we  thus  have,  for 
the  first  time,  a  realization  of  the  idea  of  Dr.  "Whewell,  who,  insisting  on 
the  value,  as  a  mental  discipline,  of  the  exact  and  solid  study  of  some  por- 
tion of  inductive  knowledge,  as  botany,  geology,  or  chemistry,  proceeds,  — 
"  But  I  say  the  exact  and  solid  knowledge ;  not  a  mere  verbal  knowledge, 
but  a  knowledge  which  is  real  in  its  character,  though  it  may  be  elementary 
and  limited  in  its  extent.  The  knowledge  of  which  I  speak  must  be  a 
knowledge  of  things,  —  an  acquaintance  with  the  operations  and  productions 
of  Nature  as  they  appear  to  the  eye,  not  merely  an  acquaintance  with  what 
has  been  said  about  them,  —  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  Nature  seen  in 
special  experiments  and  observations,  before  they  are  conceived  in  general 
terms,  — a  knowledge  of  the  types  of  natural  forms,  gathered  from  individ- 
ual cases  already  familiar.  By  such  study  of  one  or  more  departments  of 
inductive  knowledge,  the  mind  may  escape  from  the  thraldom  and  illusion 
which  reigns  in  the  world  of  mere  words." 

These  weighty  words  aptly  point  out  the  importance  of  bringing  the  mind 
of  the  pupil  into  actual  contact  with  facts  and  phenomena,  as.  illustrated 
both  in  the  elementary  lesson  in  mechanics  given  in  the  Lecture,  and  in  the 
systematic  lessons  in  botany  contained  in  Miss  Youmans'  book. 

In  view  of  the  supreme  importance  of  such  a  training  as  is  here  suggested 
for  children  of  all  classes,  Miss  Youmans  suggests  the  introduction  of 
botany  into  the  curriculum  of  primary  instruction,  as  "a  fourth  funda- 
mental branch  of  study  (i.  e.,  in  addition  to  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic) 
which  shall  afford  a  systematic  training  of  the  observing  powers  "  —  a  sugges- 
tion well  worth  the  attention  of  all  teachers  who  desire  to  supersede  the 
senseless  drill  of  routine  by  the  processes  of  intellectual  education. 


LECTURE  III. 
EDUCATIONAL   METHODS. 


THERE  is  a  just  distinction  between  a  Method  and  an  Art,  and 
between  these  and  a  Science.  A  Method  is  a  special  mode  of  ad- 
ministering an  Art,  and  an  Art  is  a  practical  display  of  a  Science. 
In  education,  every  teacher  must  have  some  mode  of  exhibiting  the 
notions  he  has  of  his  art,  and  this  mode  is  his  Method.  He  is 


64  EDUCATIONAL  METHODS. 

practising  his  Art  whenever  he  calls  forth  the  active  powers  of  his 
pupils,  let  the  subject  on  which  he  exercises  them  be  what  it  may. 
A  simple  machine,  a  flower,  a  bit  of  chalk,  or  a  portion  of  language, 
may  be  the  means  for  displaying  his  art.  But  if  he  contents  him- 
self with  leading  his  pupils,  in  a  desultory  way,  from  one  point  of 
knowledge  to  another,  from  one  temporary  mental  excitement  to 
another,  he  risks  their  loss  both  of  instruction  and  education  —  the 
one  consisting  in  the  orderly  acquisition  of  knowledge  ;  the  other 
in  the  attainment,  through  instruction,  of  good  mental  habits.  The 
teacher,  then,  must  define  his  object  by  a  special  mode  or  method 
for  securing  it.  This  method  will  be  the  exponent  of  his  notions  of. 
the  Art  of  Education,  and  will  be  good  6r  bad  just  as  these  notions 
are  sound  or  unsound  ;  and  this,  again,  will  depend  on  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  Science  of  Education  —  a  science,  as  was  before 
shown,  ultimately  based  on  that  of  Human  Nature. 

The  principle  being  once  admitted,  that  the  instruction  aimed  at 
can  only  be  gained  by  the  thinking  of  the  pupil,  it  follows  that  the 
direct  object  of  the  teacher  is  to  get  the  learner  to  think.  The 
mode  of  procedure  which  secures  this  object  in  the  best  way  is  the 
best  method  of  teaching.  There  may,  therefore,  be  many  good 
methods  of  teaching  ;  but  no  method  is  good  which  does  not  recog- 
nize and  appreciate  the  pupil's  natural  method  of  learning.  This 
principle,  I  repeat,  serves  as  the  test  of  the  method  employed  by 
the  teacher;  and  it  is  in  this  sense  that  the  pupil's  subjective 
process  of  learning  suggests  the  objective  counterpart  method  of 
teaching.  If  the  teacher  succeeds  in  getting  his  pupils  to  do  all 
the  thinking  by  which  the  instruction  is  gained,  the  method  he 
employs  must  be  a  good  one ;  for,  to  repeat  Dr.  Temple's  words 
already  quoted,  "the  master's  success  may  be  measured  by  the 
degree  in  which  he  can  bring  his  pupil's  to  make  such  exertions 
[t.e.,  the  exertions  of  their  own  minds]  absolutely  without  aid." 
In  the  system  of  agencies,  then,  by  which  the  work  of  instruction 
is  to  be  accomplished,  the  principle,  that  the  pupil's  own  mental 
effort  alone  secures  the  intended  result,  is  the  centripetal  force 
which  is  ever  tending  to  harmonize  the  details  of  the  process. 
Continually  acting  in  opposition  to  this  are  the  centrifugal  forces 
—  volatility,  indolence,  indifference,  &c.,  which  tend  to  disturb 
its  normal  operation.  The  teacher  who  commands  both  these 
forces,  directing  the  centripetal  and  controlling  the  centrifugal,  is 
a  master  of  educational  method,  and  preserves  unity  of  action 
amidst  the  endless  diversities  of  his  practice. 

It  follows  from  the  foregoing  observations,  that  as  the  character- 


EDUCATIONAL  METHODS.  65 

istics  of  a  good  method  of  teaching  are  suggested  and  dictated  by 
the  characteristics  of  a  good  method  of  learning,  it  is  important  to 
know  what  is  involved  in  a  good  method  of  learning.  In  the  last 
Lecture,  I  endeavored  to  show,  by  an  illustrative  lesson,  what  the 
pupil,  under  the  direction  of  the  teacher,  does  when  engaged  in 
teaching  himself  a  machine.  The  lesson  was,  however,  presented 
as  typical,  and  may  be  applied,  mutatis  mutandis,  to  other  subjects 
of  instruction.  It  showed  that  a  child  can  learn  the  elements  of 
physical  science  by  the  exercise  of  his  own  mind,  "  absolutely  with- 
out the  aid  "  of  the  teacher,  except  that  aid  which  consists  in  main- 
taining the  mental  force  by  which  the  pupil  acquires  his  knowledge. 
The  teacher  throughout  recognized  the  native  capacity  of  his  pupils 
to  learn,  and  his  method  consisted  in  stimulating  that  capacity  to 
do  its  proper  work.  He  gave  no  explanations,  because  the  machine 
being  its  own  interpreter,  none  were  needed.  He  gave  no  defini- 
tions, because  all  definitions,  given  in  anticipation  of  the  facts  on 
which  they  are  founded,  would  have  been  unintelligible ;  and  he 
properly  considered  that  the  true  basis  of  all  science  is  a  knowledge 
of  facts.  He  recognized,  in  short,  throughout  the  entire  lesson, 
the  principle  which  I  have  so  often  insisted  on,  that  his  pupils 
were  teaching  themselves,  and  that  he  was  the  director  of  the 
process. 

In  order  to  show  what  the  method  of  the  pupil  was,  it  is  neces- 
sary briefly  to  recapitulate  the  main  points  of  the  process.  We 
notice,  then  — 

1.  That  he  began  his  self-teaching  with  tangible  and  concrete 
matter,  on  which  he  could  exercise  his  natural  senses. 

2.  That  he  employed  analysis  in  gaining  his  knowledge,  and 
synthesis  in  displaying  and  applying  it. 

3.  That  he  was  an  explorer,  experimenter,  and  inventor  on  his 
own  account — a  true,  however  feeble,  disciple  of  the  method  of 
scientific  investigation. 

4.  That  he  proceeded  in  proportion  to  his  strength,  and  conse- 
quently from  the  known  to  the  unknown. 

5.  That  the  ideas  that  he  gained,  being  derived  by  himself  from 
facts  present  to  his  senses,  were  clear  and  accurate  as  far  as  they 
went. 

6.  That  by  teaching  himself  —  relying  on  his  own  powers  —  in 
a  special  case,  he  was  acquiring  the  power  of  teaching  himself 
generally  ;  and  was  therefore  on  the  way  to  gain  the  habit  of  inde- 
pendent mental  self -direction  —  the  real  goal  of  all  the  teacher's 
efforts. 


66  EDUCATIONAL  METHODS. 

7.  That  he  dispensed  with  all  explanations  on  the  part  of  the 
teacher,  though  he  was  told  the  conventional  and  technical  names 
for  things  which  he  already  knew. 

These  are  not  all,  but  they  are  the  mam,  characteristics  of  the 
pupil's  method  of  learning  elementary  science,  and  indeed  of  learn- 
ing everything  —  language,  geometry,  arithmetic,  for  instance  — 
which  admits  of  analysis  or  decomposition  into  parts,  or  which 
ultimately  rests  on  concrete  matter.  In  learning  the  imitative 
arts,  the  process  will  be  somewhat  varied,  but  the  principles  re- 
main essentially  the  same  ;  for  it  is  the  same  human  mind  engaged 
in  teaching  itself  under  the  direction  of  the  teacher. 

All  the  main  characteristics,  then,  of  a  good  method  of  teach- 
ing are  involved  in  those  of  the  pupil's  natural  method  of  learn- 
ing, that  is  to  say,  the  teacher  must  begin  his  instructions  in 
science,  language,  &c.,  with  concrete  matter  —  with  facts;  must 
exercise  his  pupil's  native  powers  of  observation,  judgment,  and 
reasoning ;  call  on  him  to  practise  analysis  and  synthesis ;  make 
him  explore,  investigate,  and  discover  for  himself  ;  and  so  on. 

Now  it  is  obvious  that,  in  order  to  maintain  that  action  and  in- 
fluence by  which  the  pupil's  method  is  to  end  in  complete  and 
accurate  knowledge,  the  teacher  must  be  well  furnished  with  that 
knowledge  of  mental  and  moral  phenomena  —  of  human  nature, 
in  short  —  which,  as  I  showed  in  the  first  Lecture,  should  consti- 
tute his  own  equipment  as  an  educator.  He  must  know  what  the 
mind  does  while  thinking,  in  order  to  get  his  pupils  to  think  cor- 
rectly. He  must  also  know  the  normal  action  of  moral  forces 
before  he  can  effectually  control  the  moral  forces  of  his  pupils. 
In  short,  he  must  know  what  education  is,  and  what  it  can  be  ex- 
pected to  accomplish,  before  he  can  make  it  yield  its  best  results. 
Without  this  knowledge,  much  of  his  labor  may  be  misapplied, 
and,  even  if  not  altogether  wasted,  will  be  much  less  productive 
than  it  would  otherwise  have  been. 

In  order  to  show  that  these  notions  respecting  the  characteristics 
of  a  good  method  are  not  merely  theoretical,  I  will  now  quote  from 
an  independent  source  —  Mr.  Marcel's  valuable  treatise  on  Teach- 
ing* —  what  he  considers  to  be  the  main  features  of  such  a  method 
generally. 

*  "  Language  aa  a  means  of  Mental  Culture  and  International  Communication ;  a  Manual 
of  the  Teacher  and  the  Learner  of  Languages."  By  C.  Marcel,  Knt.  Leg.  lion :  French  Con- 
sul; 2voli».  ]2mo;  Chapman  &  Hall,  1853  —  a  work  of  conspicuous  excellence  on  the  whole 
art  of  teaching,  and  well  deserving  to  be  reprinted. 


EDUCATIONAL   METHODS.  G7 

First,  says  Mr.  Marcel,  "  A  good  method  favors  self-teaching;  " 
and  011  this  point  he  makes  the  following  apt  remarks  :  — 

"  One  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  a  good  method  consists  in 
enabling  learners  to  dispense  with  the  assistance  of  a  teacher  when 
they  are  capable  of  self-government.  It  should  be  so  contrived  as 
to  excite  and  direct  their  spontaneous  efforts,  and  lead  them  to  the 
conviction  that  they  have  the  power,  if  they  have  the  will,  to 
acquire  whatever  man  has  acquired.  The  prevailing  notion  that 
we  must  be  taught  everything  [that  is,  by  "the  most  stupid  and 
most  didactic  method"]  is  a  great  evil.  .  .  .  The  best  informed 
teachers  and  the  most  elaborate  methods  of  instruction  can  impart 
nothing  to  the  passive  and  inert  mind.  If  even  a  learner  succeeded 
in  retaining  and  applying  the  facts  enumerated  to  him,  the  mental 
acquisition  would  then  be  vastly  inferior  to  that  which  the  investi- 
gation of  a  single  fact,  the  analysis  of  a  single  combination  [e.  </., 
the  fact  of  the  pile-driving  machine,  the  combinations  it  afforded], 
by  his  unaided  reason,  would  achieve." 

2.  "  A  good  method  is  in  accordance  with  nature." 

He  adds,  —  "  The  natural  process  by  which  the  vernacular  idiom 
is  acquired  demonstrates  what  can  be  done  by  self -instruction,  and 
presents  the  best  model  for  our  imitation  in  devising  a  method  of 
learning  languages."  [This  is  only  another  way  of  stating  the 
main  proposition,  that  the  method  of  teaching  is  suggested  by  the 
natural  method  of  learning.] 

3.  "A  good  method  comprises  Analysis  and  Synthesis." 
"Analysis,  the  method  of  Nature,  presents  a  whole,  subdivides 

it  into  its  parts,  and  from  particulars  infers  a  general  truth.  By 
analysis  we  discover,  truths ;  by  synthesis  we  transmit  them  to 
others.  .  .  .  Analysis,  consistently  with  the  generation  of  ideas 
and  the  process  of  nature,  makes  the  learner  pass  from  the  known 
to  the  unknown  ;  it  leaves  him  by  inductive  reasoning  to  the  object 
of  study,  and  is  both  interesting  and  improving,  as  it  keeps  the 
mind  actively  engaged.  Synthesis  [Mr.  Marcel  here  means  the 
synthetic  process  of  the  teacher ;  there  is  a  little  confusion  in  his 
statement],  on  the  contrary,  which  imposes  truths,  and  sets  out 
with  abstractions,  presents  little  interest,  and  few  means  of  mental 
activity  in  the  first  stages  of  instruction.  ...  It  is,  however, 
necessary  for  completing  the  work  commenced  by  analysis.  In  a 
rational  method  we  should  follow  the  natural  course  of  mental 
investigation  ;  we  should  proceed  from  facts  to  principles,  and  then 
from  principles  down  to  consequences.  We  should  begin  with 
analysis,  and  conclude  with  synthesis.  ...  In  the  study  of  the 


68  EDUCATIONAL   METHODS. 

ails,  decomposition  and  recom position,  classification  and  general- 
ization, are  the  groundwork  of  creation  [i.  e.  of  invention]." 

4.  "-<4  good  method  is  both  practical  and  comparative." 

Mr.  Marcel,  who  has  in  view  especially  the  learning  of  language, 
means,  that  there  should  be  both  practice  founded  on  imitation,  and 
comparison,  conducted  by  the  exercise  of  the  reasoning  powers. 
"The  former,"  he  says,  "exercises  the  powers  of  perception, 
imitation,  and  analogy  ;  the  latter  those  of  reflection,  conception, 
comparison,  and  reasoning  ,  the  first  leads  to  the  art,  the  second  to 
the  science,  of  language.  .  .  .  The  one  teaches  how  to  use  a 
language,  the  other  how  to  use  the  higher  faculties  of  the  mind. 

O          O      '  ^ 

The  combination  of  both  would  constitute  the  most  efficient  system." 
[It  is  needless  to  say  that  our  model  lesson  on  teaching  elementary 
science  presented  both  these  characteristics.] 

5.  "  A  good  method  is  an  instrument  of  intellectual  culture." 
This  is  little  more  than  a  repetition  of  the  previous  statements. 

However,  Mr.  Marcel,  in  insisting  that  a  good  method  should  culti- 
vate all  the  intellectual  faculties,  further  remarks,  that  "  through 
such  a  method  the  reasoning  powers  will  be  unfolded  by  comparing, 
generalizing,  and  classifying  the  facts  of  language,  by  inferring 
and  applying  the  rules  of  grammar,  as  also  by  discriminating 
between  different  sentiments,  different  styles,  different  writers 
and  different  languages  ;  whilst  the  active  co-operation  of  atten- 
tion and  memory  will  be  involved  in  the  action  of  all  the  other 
faculties. 

Such  are,  according  to  Mr.  Marcel,  who  only  represents  all  the 
writers  of  any  authority  on  the  subject,  the  main  criteria  of  a  good 
method  of  teaching.  It  is  obvious  that,  though  he  has  chiefly  in 
view  the  teaching  of  languages,  they  strikingly  coincide  with  the 
deductions  we  gathered  from  observing  the  pupil's  own  method  of 
learning  elementary  science.  The  conclusion,  then,  appears  in- 
evitable, that  the  characteristics  of  a  good  method  must  be  the 
same,  whatever  the  subject  of  instruction,  and  that  its  goodness 
must  be  tested  by  its  recognition  or  non-recognition  of  the  natural 
laws  of  the  process  by  which  the  human  mind  acquires  knowledge 
for  itself. 

Having  thus  indicated  the  main  criteria  of  a  good  method  of 
teaching,  I  shall  employ  the  remainder  of  our  time  in  the  exposi- 
tion and  criticism  of  the  methods  of  a  few  of  the  masters  of  the 
art. 

I  begin  with  Roger  Ascham's  method  of  teaching  Latin,  a  method 
characterized  by  Mr.  J.  B.  Mayor  (himself  a  high  authority  on 


EDUCATIONAL  METHODS.  69 

education),  in  his  recently  published  valuable  edition  of  "The 
Scholemaster,"  as  "the  only  sound  method  of  acquiring  a  dead 
language." 

Ascham  gave  his  pupils  a  little  dose  of  grammar  to  begin  with. 
He  required  them  to  learn  by  heart  about  a  page  of  matter  con- 
taining a  synopsis  of  the  eight  parts  of  speech,  and  the  three 
concords.  This  was  the  grammatical  equipment  for  their  work. 
He  then  took  an  easy  epistle  of  Cicero.  What  he  did  with  it  may 
be  best  learned  1'roui  his  own  words.  "  First,"  he  said,  "  let  the 
master  teach  the  childe,  cherefullie  and  plaiulie,  the  cause  and 
matter  of  the  letter  [that  is,  what  it  is  about] ,  then  let  him  con- 
strue it  into  Englishe,  so  oft,  as  the  childe  may  easilie  carie  awaie 
the  understanding  of  it.  Lastlie,  parse  it  over  perfitlie.  [The 
teacher,  it  is  seen,  supplies  conventional  knowledge  —  the  English 
words  corresponding  to  the  Latin  —  which  the  child  could  not  pos- 
sibly find  out  for  himself,  and  strictly  applies  the  modicum  of 
grammar  already  learned.]  This  done  thus,  let  the  childe,  by  and 
by,  both  construe  and  parse  it  over  againe  ;  so  that  it  may  appeare, 
that  the  childe  douteth  in  nothing  that  his  master  taught  him  before. 
[This  is  the  reproductive  part  of  the  process,  involving  a  partial, 
mechanical,  synthesis.]  After  this,  the  childe  must  take  a  paper 
booke,  and,  sitting  in  some  place  where  no  man  shall  prompe  him, 
by  himself,  let  him  translate  into  Englishe  his  former  lesson. 
[This  is  a  test  of  sound  acquisition,  and  involves  a  more  definite 
synthesis.]  Then  showing  it  [his  translation]  to  his  master,  let 
the  master  take  from  his  Latin  booke,  and  pausing  an  houre,  at 
the  least,  than  let  the  childe  translate  his  owne  Englishe  into  Latin 
againe,  in  an  other  paper  booke.  [This  is  the  critical  test,  the 
exact  reproduction  by  memory,  aided  by  judgment,  of  the  knowl- 
edge gained  by  observation  and  comparison.]  When  the  childe 
briugeth  it  turned  into  Latin  [his  re-translation]  the  master  must 
compare  it  with  Tullies  booke  [the  Latin  text  of  the  epistle],  and 
laic  them  both  togither ;  and  where  the  childe  doth  well,  either  in 
chosing  or  true  placing  of  Tullies  words,  let  the  master  praise  him, 
and  saie,  Here  ye  do  well.  For  I  assure  you  there  is  no  such  whet- 
stone to  sharpen  a  good  witte  and  encourage  a  will  to  learninge,  as 
is  praise."  [This  last  part  of  the  process  is  especially  valuable, 
involving  the  correction  of  faults  in  the  presence  of  the  model, 
the  pupil  being  really  taught,  not  by  the  arbitrary  dictum  of  the 
master,  but  by  the  superior  authority  of  the  master's  master,  the 
author  himself.] 

In  this  way,  supplying  additional  grammatical  knowledge  by  the 


70  EDUCATIONAL   METHODS. 

law  of  exigence,  just  when  it  is  needed,  the  teacher  finds  in  the 
text  thus  carefully  "lessoned,"  studied,  and  known  by  the  pupil, 
"  the  ground,"  as  Ascham  puts  it,  "  of  almost  all  the  rewles  that 
are  so  busilie  (anxiously)  taught  by  the  master,  and  so  hardlie 
learned  by  the  scholer,  in  all  common  scholes  ;  which  after  this  sort 
'  the  master  shall  teach  without  all  error  [because  founded  on  facts 
present  to  view] ,  and  the  scholer  shall  learn  withoute  great  paine  ; 
the  master  being  led  by  so  sure  a  guide,  and  the  scholer  being 
brought  into  so  plaiiie  and  easie  a  waie.  And,  therefore,"  he  pro- 
ceeds, "  we  do  not  contemne  rewles,  but  we  gladlie  teach  rewles  ; 
and  teach  them  more  plainlie,  sensibile,  and  orderlie  than  they  be 
commonlie  taught  in  common  scholes." 

We  see  in  Ascham 's  method,  that  the  concrete  preceded  the 
abstract ;  the  particulars,  the  generalization ;  the  examples  of 
language,  the  grammatical  rules.  He  was  thus  carrying  out  the 
spirit  of  Dean  Colet  and  Cardinal  Wolsey,  who  had  insisted,  to  use 
the  words  of  the  former,  that  if  a  man  desires  "  to  attain  to  under- 
stand Latin  books,  and  to  speak  and  to  write  clean  Latin,  let  him 
above  all  busily  (carefully)  learn  and  read  good  Latin  authors  of 
chosen  poets  and  orators,  and  note  wisely  how  they  wrote  and 
spake,  and  study  always  to  follow  them,  desiring  none  other  rules 
but  their  examples."  After  much  more  to  the  same  effect,  he  ends 
his  instructions  to  the  masters  of  St.  Paul's  School,  by  urging  that 
"busy  (careful)  imitation  with  tongue  and  pen  more  availeth 
shortly  to  get  the  true  eloquent  speech,  than  all  the  traditions, 
rules,  and  precepts  of  masters."  Cardinal  Wolsey  uses  nearly  the 
same  words  in  his  directions  to  the  masters  of  Ipswich  School. 

Into  the  further  details  of  Ascham's  method,  so  quaintly  de- 
scribed in  the  "  Scholemaster,"  I  cannot  enter,  except  to  say  that 
after  a  long  training  in  double-translations,  with  the  constant  ap- 
plication of  grammar  rules  as  they  are  wanted  ("the  grammar  booke 
being  ever  in  the  scholer 's  hand,  and  also  used  by  him,  as  a  dic- 
tionarie,  for  everie  present  use,")  the  master  translates  himself  easy 
portions  of  Cicero  into  English,  and  then  requires  the  pupil,  iclio 
has  not  seen  the  original,  to  turn  them  into  Latin.  The  pupil's  work 
is  then  to  be  carefully  compared  with- and  corrected  by,  the  origi- 
nal, "  for  of  good  heedtaking  springetn  chiefly  knowledge."  This 
exercise  prepares  the  scholar  for  independent  composition  in  Latin. 

There  is  one  feature  especially  in  this  method,  as  described  by 
Ascham,  worthy  of  careful  notice,  and  that  is  the  dose  study  of  a 
small  portion  of  literary  matter,  ending  in  a  complete  mastery  of  it. 
The  various  exercises  of  the  method  require  the  pupil,  as  Ascharn 


EDUCATIONAL  METHODS.  71 

shows,  to  go  over  this  portion  at  least  a  dozen  times ;  and  he  adds 
significantly,  "always  with  pleasure;  for  pleasure  allureth  love, 
love  hath  lust  to  labor,  labor  always  attaineth  his  purpose."  By 
continually  coming  into  direct  contact  with  the  phraseology  of  the 
text,  the  pupil  masters  the  form,  and  through  the  form  penetrates 
into  the  spirit  of  the  author  ;  or,  as  Ascham  phrases  it,  "  by  mark- 
ing dailie  and  following  diligentlie  the  footsteps  of  the  best  authors, 
the  pupil  understands  their  invention  of  arguments,  their  arrange- 
ment of  topics,  and  hereby,"  he  adds,  "your  scholar  shall  be  brought 
not  only  to  like  [similar]  eloquence,  but  also  to  all  true  understand- 
ing and  rightful  judgment  for  speaking  and  writing."  It  appears, 
then,  that  Ascham's  pupil  proceeds  firmly  on  a  broad  basis  of  facts, 
which  he  has  made  his  own  by  mental  conquest,  and  that  this  has 
been  possible  because  the  field  of  conquest  has  been  intentionally 
limited.  It  is  obvious  that  no  method  of  teaching  which  consists 
in  bringing  a  bit  of  this  thing  (or  author) ,  a  bit  of  that  thing  (or 
author),  transiently  before  the  pupil's  mind,  creating  ideas,  like 
dissolving  views,  each  of  which  in  its  turn  displaces  its  predecessor, 
which  makes  acquisitions  only  to  abandon  them  before  they  are 
"  incorporated  with  the  organic  life  of  the  mind,"  can  possibly  be 
a  good  method.  Hence  the  very  general  result  of  our  systems  of 
education,  so  called,  is  a  fan-ago  of  facts  partially  hatched  into 
principles,  mingled  in  unseemly  jumble  with  rules  half  understood, 
exceptions  claiming  equal  rank  with  the  rules,  definitions  dislocated 
from  the  objects  they  define,  and  technicalities  which  clog  rather 
than  facilitate,  as  they  should  do,  the  operations  of  the  mind. 

It  would  be  easy  to  show  that  the  valuable  ends  of  instruction 
and  education  can  only  be  gained  by  doing  a  little  well;  that  the 
ambition  to  grasp  many  things  ignobly  ends  in  the  loss  of  the  large 
majority  of  them  (quitrop  embrasse  mal  &treint)  ;  that  apprehension 
is  not  comprehension,  and  generally,  that  to  the  characteristics  of  a 
good  method  of  teaching  we  must  add  this,  that' it  aims  at  securing 
multum,  but  not  mnlta.  If  the  object  of  education  is  training  to 
faculty,  to  mental  self-direction,  his  principle  must  be  constantly 
insisted  on.  I  see,  however,  with  the  deepest  regret,  that  our  edu- 
cational amateurs  —  men  of  the  best  intentions,  but  of  no  prac- 
tical experience  —  are  continually  violating  it  in  their  persistent 
attempts  to  extend  the  curriculum  of  elementary  instruction.  A 
little  bit  of  this  knowledge,  a  little  bit  of  that— some  information 
on  this  point,  and  some  on  that — is  so  "  useful."  They  forget  that 
the  most  useful  thing  of  all  is  the  formation  of  good  mental  habits, 
and  that  these  can  only  be  formed  by  concentrating  the  mind  on  a 
few  subjects,  and  making  them  the  basis  of  training.  When  this  su- 


72  EDUCATIONAL   METHODS. 

premely  useful  object  has  been  gained,  the  curriculum  may  be  ex- 
tended ad  libitum;  but  not  till  then.  What  is  really  wanted  in 
primary,  and  indeed  all  classes  of  schools,  is  not  so  much,  more 
subjects  to  teach,  but  the  power  of  teaching  the  ordinary  subjects 
well.  Ascham's  method,  then,  with  some  slight  modifications,  pre- 
sents all  the  characteristic  features  of  a  good  method  of  teaching, 
and  is,  I  need  not  point  out,  identical  in  principle  with  that  already 
illustrated.  It  is  natural,  simple,  effective,  although  so  widely 
different,  in  most  of  its  features,  from  the  traditional  methods  of 
our  grammar  schools ;  which  are  indeed,  in  most  respects,  suited 
to  the  mental  condition  of  the  ambitious,  active-minded,  inventive 
few,  but  not  at  all  to  the  ordinary  mental  condition  of  the  ttaoy. 
We  too  often  forget  that  the  raison  d'etre  of  the  schoolmaster  is 
the  instruction,  not  of  the  minority  who  will  and  can  teach  them- 
selves, but  of  the  majority  who  can  but  will  not.  Our  teaching 
force  should  regulate  the  movements  rather  of  the  ordinary  planets 
than  of  the  comets  of  the  system. 

In  the  seventeenth  century,  a  number  of  thoughtful  men  —  Ger- 
mans —  unsatisfied  with  the  methods  of  education  then  in  vogue, 
began  almost  simultaneously  to  investigate  the  principles  of  educa- 
tion ;  and,  as  the  result,  arrived  virtually  at  the  conclusion  on 
which  I  have  so  often  insisted,  that  the  teacher's  function  is  really 
defined  by  that  of  the  pupil,  and  that  it  is  by  understanding  what 
he  is,  and  what  he  does,  that  we  learn  how  to  treat  him  wisely  and 
effectively.  The  eminent  names  of  Ratich,  Sturm,  and  especially 
Comenius,  are  connected  with  this  movement.  I  can  do  no  more 
,than  refer  those  who  are  interested  in  the  details  to  Von  Raumer's 
valuable  "Geschichte  der  Padagogik,"  or  to  Mr.  Quick's  exposi- 
tion of  them  in  the  "  Essays  on  Educational  Reformers."  The 
results  may  be  stated  in  Mr.  Quick's  words : 

"1.  They  (the  reformers  in  question)  proceed  from  the  con- 
crete to  the  abstract,  giving  some  knowledge  of  the  thing  itself 
before  the  rules  which  refer  to  it.  2.  They  employ  the  student  in 
analyzing  matter  put  before  him,  rather  than  in  working  syntheti- 
cally according  to  precept.  3.  They  require  the  student  to  teach 
himself,  under  the  superintendence  of  the  master,  rather  than  be 
taught  by  the  master,  and  receive  anything  on  the  master's  authority. 
4.  They  rely  on  the  interest  excited  in  the  pupil  by  the  acquisition 
of  knowledge ;  and  renounce  coercion.  5.  Only  that  which  is 
understood  may  be  committed  to  memory." 

The  methods,  then,  of  these  reformers  present  the  same  charac- 
teristics which  we  have  deductively  gaiued  by  other  means. 


EDUCATIONAL   METHODS.  73 

In  a  lecture  on  Methods,  it  is  impossible  to  omit  the  names  of 
Locke  and  Rousseau.  As,  however,  it  is  easy  to  read  through  the 
short  and  very  interesting  "-Treatise  of  Education  "  and  the  capital 
digest  of  the  "  Emile  "  in  Mr.  Quick's  book,  I  may  pass  them  over. 

We  come  next  to  Pestalozzi  —  a  name  of  world-wide  renown,  of 
still  increasing  influence.  He  differed  essentially  from  Comenius, 
whom  he  practically  succeeded  in  the  history  of  education,  in 
1  icing  a  comparatively  uneducated  man.  When  once  reproached 
by  his  enemies  (of  whom,  from  various  causes,  he  had  many)  with 
being  unable  to  read,  write,  and  cipher  respectably,  he  frankly 
acknowledged  that  the  charge  was  true.  On  another  occasjon  he 
confessed  to  an  "unrivalled  incapacity  to  govern" — a  confession 
which  discovered  a  most  accurate  self-knowledge  on  his  part ;  and 
generally,  his  whole  educational  life  bore  witness  to  the  deficiency 
of  his  mental  equipment  and  training.  He  often  bitterly  deplored, 
when  he  could  not  remedy,  this  ignorance  and  incapacity.  His 
mind,  however,  was  remarkably  active  and  enterprising,  and  his 
moral  power  truly  immense.  A  thousand  criticisms  on  his  want  of 
knowledge,  of  judgment,  of  the  power  of  government,  of  even 
common  sense  (as  men  usually  estimate  that  quality) ,  fall  powerless 
as  attacks  on  a  man  whose  unfailing  hope,  love,  and  patience  not 
only  formed  his  inward  support  under  trials  and  disappointments, 
but  combined  with  that  intense  necessity  of  action,  which  was  the 
essence  of  his  nature,  in  stamping  his  moral  influence  on  all  around 
him.  Virtue,  with  him,  was  not  a  mere  word  ;  it  was  an  energetic, 
ever-acting  force.*  To  instruct  and  humanize  the  poor  wretched 
children  who  were  generally  his  pupils,  —  to  relieve  their  physical 
wants  and  sufferings,  — to  sympathize  with  them  under  their  diffi- 
culties, —  was  to  him  not  only  a  duty  but  a  delight.  To  accom- 
plish these  objects,  he  worked  like  a  horse  (only  harder),  fagging 
and  slaving  sometimes  from  three  in  the  morning  till  eleven  at 
night,  dressed  himself  like  a  mechanic,  almost  starved  himself, 
became,  as  he  tells  us,  "  the  children's  teacher,  trainer,  paymaster, 
man-servant,  and  almost  house-maid  ;  "  and  all  this  to  gain  the 
means  for  instructing,  boarding,  sometimes  even  clothing,  children 
who  not  nnfrequeutly  rewarded  his  labors  with  ingratitude  and 
scorn.  Pestalozzi  was  indeed  the  Howard  of  schoolmasters. 


*  Like  most  enthusiasts,  however,  he  exerciced  It  very  irregularly.  On  one  occasion,  we 
are  told,  when  reduced  to  the  utmost  extremity  for  want  of  money,  he  borrowed  400  francs  from 
a  friend.  Going  home,  be  met  a  peasant  wringing  his  hands  in  despair  for  the  loss  of  his 
cow.  Without  a  moment's  hesitation,  lYstalozzi  put  the  purse  with  all  Its  contents  into  the 
man'ri  hands  and  ran  off,  as  quick  as  he  could,  to  escape  hU  thanks. 


74  EDUCATIONAL  METHODS. 

It  was  his  unbounded  philanthropy  that  first  led  him  to  become 
a  schoolmaster,  —  his  intense  love  and  pity  that  supplied  both 
motive  and  means.  He  saw  around  him  children  perishing,  as  he 
conceived,  for  lack  of  knowledge ;  and  though  possessed  of  little 
himself,  though  mentally  untrained,  though  ignorant  of  the  experi- 
ence of  other  teachers,  he  resolved,  with  such  appliances  as  he 
had,  to  commence  the  work.  The  one  ruling  thought  in  his  mind 
was,  "Here  are  poor  ignorant  children.  From  my  heart  I  pity 
them.  I  feel  that  I  can  do  them  some  good.  Let  me  try." 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  his  trials  often  proved  "trials" 
indeed,  and  ended  in  utter  disappointment :  for  although  his  edu- 
cational instincts  furnished  him  with  excellent  notions  and  theories 
about  teaching,  the  actual  results  were  often  unsatisfactory.  In 
this  intense  eagerness  to  press  forward,  he  never  stopped  to  examine 
results,  nor  to  co-ordinate  means  with  ends.  Provided  that  he 
could  excite,  as  he  generally  did,  a  vivid  interest  in  the  actual 
lesson,  he  was  contented  with  that  excitement  as  the  end  of  his 
teaching.  Thus,  while  he,  to  some  extent,  developed  the  mental 
powers,  he  did  not  even  conceive  of  the  higher  end  of  training 
them  to  independent  action. 

In  order  to  show  what  Pestalozzi's  method  of  teaching  really 
was,  I  shall  quote  some  passages  from  an  interesting  narrative 
written  by  Ramsauer,  who  was  first  a  pupil  and  then  a  teacher  in 
one  of  Pestalozzi's  schools.* 

Referring  to  his  experience  as  a  pupil,  he  says,  "  I  got  about  as 
much  regular  schooling  as  the  other  scholars  —  namely,  none  at 
all;  but  his  (Pestalozzi's)  sacred  zeal,  his  devoted  love,  which 
caused  him  to  be  entirely  unmindful  of  himself,  his  serious  and 
depressed  state  of  mind,  which  struck  even  the  children,  made  the 
deepest  impression  on  me,  and  knit  my  childlike  and  grateful  heart 
to  his  for  ever." 

Pestalozzi  had  a  notion  "  that  all  the  instruction  of  the  school 
should  start  from  form,  number,  and  language  ;  so  that  the  entire 
curriculum  consisted  of  drawing,  ciphering,  and  exercises  in 
language."  "  "We  neither  read  nor  wrote,"  says  Ramsauer,  "nor 
were  we  required  to  commit  to  memory,  anything  secular  or  sacred." 

"For  the  drawing,  we  had  neither  copies  to  draw  from  nor 
directions  what  to  draw,  but  only  crayons  and  boards ;  and  we 
were  told  to  draw  'what  we  liked.'  .  .  .  But  we  did  not  know 

*  Those  quotations  are  taken  from  a  translation  by  Mr.  Tillcnrd  of  Von  Uaumer's  account 
of  Pcstalozzi's  Life  and  System,  given  In  the  "  Qeschlchte  diT  Piidagogik." 


EDUCATIONAL  METHODS.  75 

what  to  draw,  and  so  it  happened  that  some  drew  men  and  women, 
some  houses,  &c.  .  .  .  Pestalozzi  never  looked  to  see  what  we  had 
drawn,  or  rather  scribbled  ;  but  the  clothes  of  all  the  scholars, 
especially  the  sleeves  and  elbows,  gave  unmistakable  evidence*  that 
they  had  been  making  due  use  of  their  crayons."  [This  is  a 
remarkable  specimen  of  children  being  left  to  teach  themselves, 
without  the  careful  superintendence  of  the  teacher,  and  certainly  does 
not  recommend  the  practice.] 

"For  the  ciphering,"  Ramsauer  says,  "we  had  between  every 
two  scholars  a  small  table  pasted  on  mill-board,  on  which,  in 
quadrangular  fields,  were  marked  dots  which  we  had  to  count,  to 
add  together,  to  subtract,  to  multiply  and  divide,  by  one  another." 
[Here  there  is  obviously  some  superintendence ;  the  character  of 
it,  however,  is  seen  in  what  follows.]  "  But  as  Pestalozzi  only 
allowed  the  scholars  to  go  over  and  to  repeat  the  exercises  in  their 
turns,  and  never  questioned  them  nor  set  them  tasks,  these  exercises 
which  were  otherwise  very  good,  remained  without  any  great  utility. 
He  had  not  sufficient  patience  to  allow  things  to  be  gone  over  again, 
or  to  put  questions ;  and  in  his  enormous  zeal  for  the  instruction 
of  the  whole  school,  he  seemed  not  to  concern  himself  in  the 
slightest  degree  for  the  individual  scholar."  [These  are  Ramsauer's 
words,  and  they  give  a  curious  idea  of  a  superintendence  which 
involved  neither  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  the  machine,  nor  a 
true  conception  of  the  end  towards  which  it  was  working,  nor  any 
notion  of  the  corrections  necessary  to  control  its  aberrations  and 
apply  its  action  to  special  cases.  Yet,  as  making  concrete  matter 
the  basis  of  the  abstractions  of  number,  it  was  good  ;  and  good, 
too,  in  employing  the  pupil's  own  observation,  and  his  analytical 
and  synthetical  faculties.  Hence  we  find  that  Pestalozzi  was  more 
successful  in  teaching  arithmetic  than  anything  else.] 

Ramsauer  proceeds,  —  "  The  best  things  we  had  with  him  were 
the  exercises  on  language,  at  least  those  which  he  gave  us  on  the 
paper-hangings  of  the  school-room,  and  which  were  real  exercises 
on  observation."  "These  hangings,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  were 
very  old  and  a  good  deal  torn  ;  and  before  these  we  had  frequently 
to  stand  for  two  or  three  hours  together,  and  say  what  we  observed 
in  respect  to  the  form,  number,  position,  and  color  of  the  figures 
painted  on  them,  and  the  holes  torn  in  them,  and  to  express  what 
we  observed  in  sentences  gradually  increasing  in  length.  On  such 
occasions  he  would  say,  '  Boys,  what  do  you  see  ? '  (He  never 
named  the  girls).  Ans. — A  hole  in  the  wainscot  (meaning  the 
hangings).  P. — Very  good.  Now  repeat  after  me  :  I  see  a  hole 


76  EDUCATIONAL  METHODS. 

in  the  wainscot.  I  see  a  long  hole  in  the  wainscot.  Through  the 
hole  I  see  the  wall.  Through  the  long  narrow  hole  I  see  the  wall. 
P.  —  Repeat  after  me  :  I  see  figures  on  the  paper-hangings.  I  see 
black  figures  on  the  paper-hangings.  I  see  round  black  figures  on 
the  paper-hangings.  I  see  a  square  yellow  figure  on  the  paper- 
hangings.  Beside  the  square  yellow  figure  I  see  black  round  fig- 
ures, &c. 

"  Of  less  utility  were  those  exercises  in  language  which  he  took 
from  natural  history,  and  in  which  we  had  to  repeat  after  him,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  draw,  as  I  have  already  mentioned.  He  would 
say  : — Amphibious  animals  —  crawling  amphibious  animals,  creep- 
ing amphibious  animals.  Monkeys  —  long-tailed  monkeys,  short- 
tailed  monkeys,  —  and  so  on." 

Ramsauer  adds,  —  "  We  did  not  understand  a  word  of  this,  for 
not  a  word  was  explained ;  and  it  was  all  spoken  in  such  a  sing- 
song tone,  and  so  rapidly  and  indistinctly,  that  it  would  have  been 
a  wonder  if  any  one  had  understood  anything  of  it,  and  had  learned 
anything  from  it.  Besides,  Pestalozzi  cried  out  so  dreadfully  loud 
and  so  continuously  that  he  could  not  hear  us  repeat  after  him,  the 
less  so  as  he  never  waited  for  us  when  he  had  read  out  a  sentence, 
but  went  on  without  intermission,  and  read  off  a  whole  page  at 
once.  Our  repetition  consisted  for  the  most  part  in  saying  the 
last  word  or  syllable  of  each  phrase  ;  thus,  "  Monkeys — monkeys," 
or  "Keys  —  keys."  There  was  never  any  questioning  or  re- 
capitulation." 

This  long  but  interesting  account,  from  the  pen  of  an  attached 
pupil,  fairly  represents  (as  we  learn  from  Von  Raumer  himself, 
who  spent  nearly  nine  months  in  the  school)  Pestalozzi' s  actual 
teaching,  though  not  the  ideal  which,  in  describing  results  to 
strangers,  he  often,  in  his  enthusiasm,  substituted  for  it. 

In  criticizing  it,  we  observe,  in  the  first  place,  that  Pestalozzi's 
method  excites  mental  action  to  some  extent,  but  secures  the  ends 
neither  of  instruction  nor  education.  It  scarcely  at  all  recognizes 
the  self-teaching  of  the  child,  but  rather  supersedes  it  by  the  me- 
chanical repetition  of  the  master's  words.  The  observation  of 
the  child,  called  for  a  moment  to  the  properties  of  objects,  is 
immediately  checked  by  the  resolution,  on  the  part  of  the  teacher, 
of  the  lesson  on  things  into  a  lesson  on  words.  The  naming  of 
qualities,  not  ascertained  by  investigation,  but  pointed  out  by  the 
teacher,  constitutes  what  Pestalozzi  looked  on  in  theory  as  a  train- 
ing of  the  powers  of  obsei-vation.  Von  Raumer,  Professors  Maiden 
and  Mosely,  and  Herbert  Spencer,  all  agree  in  their  estimate  both 


EDUCATIONAL  METHODS.  77 

of  the  value  of  Pestalozzi's  theory  respecting  object-teaching,  and 
the  comparative  worthlessness  of  his  practice.  In  fact,  to  hold  up  a 
piece  of  chalk  before  a  class  (keeping  it  in  your  own  hands  all  the 
while),  to  call  out  "  That  is  chalk,"  and  to  make  the  class  repeat 
after  you  three  times,  "  That  is  chalk !  that  is  chalk !  that  is 
chalk!"  or  "Chalk  is  white,"  "Chalk  is  hard,"  &c.,  is  in  no 
proper  sense  teaching  the  properties  of  chalk,  but  only  the  names 
of  its  properties.  Pestalozzi,  however,  never  saw  this,  nor  that 
his  method  generally  had  no  tendency  to  train  the  mind.  An  ad- 
ditional proof  of  his  blindness  in  this  respect  was  that  he  drew  up 
manuals  of  instruction  for  his  teachers  which  involved  in  their  use 
a  perfectly  slavish  routine.  Thus  we  learn  from  his  "  Book  for 
Mothers,"  that  the  teacher,  in  teaching  a  child  the  parts  of  his 
own  body  (which  he  fancied  was  the  subject  to  be  first  taught), 
is  to  go,  word  for  word,  through  a  quantity  of  such  matter  as 
this  :  —  "  The  middle  bones  of  the  index  finger  are  placed  outside, 
on  the  middle  joints  of  the  index  finger,  between 'the  back  and 
middle*  members  of  the  index  finger,"  &c.  Then  he  compiled  a 
spelling-book  containing  long  lists  of  words,  which  were  to  be  re- 
peated to  the  infant  in  its  cradle,  before  it  was  able  to  pronounce 
even  one  of  them,  that  they  might  be  deeply  impressed  on  its 
memory  by  frequent  repetition. 

On  the  whole,  then,  from  Pestalozzi's  method  pur  et  simple, 
there  is  little  to  be  gained.  It  was  much  improved  subsequently 
by  some  of  his  teachers,  Schmid,  Niederer,  &c.,  who  saw  in  his 
theories  applications  which  he  failed  to  see  himself.  Had  he  been 
educated  in  education,  —  had  he,  moreover,  profited  by  the  experi- 
ence of  others,  —  had  he  brought  his  practice  into  conformity  with 
his  principles  (crude  enough  though  some  of  these  were) — his 
career,  instead  of  being  a  series  of  failures  and  disappointments, 
many  of  them  due,  however,  to  his  unrivalled  "  incapacity  to 
govern,"  would  have  been  one  of  triumphant  success. 

As  it  is,  we  owe  him  much.  His  principles,  and  much  of  his 
practice,  are  an  inheritance  that  the  world  will  not  willingly  let 
die.  Let  us,  however,  leave  the  noble-minded,  self-sacrificing 
Pestalozzi,  with  all  his  virtues  and  all  his  faults,  and  pass  on  to 
Jacotot. 

It  should  be  stated  in  the  outset,  that  Jacotot  was  rather  an 
educator  of  the  mind  than  of  all  the  human  forces.  He  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  placed  in  circumstances  which  required  him 
to  develop  and  train,  by  special  treatment,  the  physical  and  moral 
powers  ;  although  the  moral  force  of  his  own  energetic  character, 


78  EDUCATIONAL   METHODS. 

as  well  as  that  of  bis  system,  could  not  but  be,  and  was,  vitally 
influential  on  the  whole  being  of  his  pupils.  It  is,  however,  mainly 
as  a  teacher  that  I  propose  to  consider  him. 

But  some  here  will  enquire  who  was  Jacotot ;  —  a  question  I  have 
no  time  to  answer  in  detail.  I  can  merely  say  that  he  was  born  at 
Dijon  in  1770  ;  >was  educated  at  the  college  of  that  town  ;  at  nine- 
teen years  of  age  took  the  degree  of  Docteur-es-Lettres,  and  was 
appointed  Professor  of  Humanities  (i.  e.,  grammar,  rhetoric,  and 
composition)  in  the  same  college  ;  when  the  troubles  of  his  country 
arose,  became,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  a  captain  of  artillery, 
and  fought  bravely  at  the  sieges  of  Maestricht  and  Valenciennes ; 
was  afterwards  made  sub-director  of  the  Polytechnic  School  at 
Paris ;  then  Professor  of  the  Method  of  Sciences  at  Dijon  ;  and 
later  Professor  of  Pure  and  Transcendental  Mathematics,  Roman 
Law,  Ancient  and  Oriental  Languages  in  different  colleges  and 
universities.  Obliged,  as  a  marked  opponent  of  the  Bourbons,  to 
leave  France  on  their  restoration,  he  took  refuge  in  Brussels,  and 
was  in  1818  appointed  by  the  Belgian  government  Professor  of 
the  French  Language  and  Literature  in  the  University  of  Louvain  ; 
there  discovered  the  method  of  teaching  which  goes  by  his  name  ; 
devoted  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  propagating  it ;  and  died  at 
Paris  in  1840,  being  then  seventy  years  of  age. 

We  are  told  that,  as  a  schoolboy,  he  displayed  some  remarkable 
characteristics.  He  was  what  teachers,  and  especially  dull  ones, 
consider  a  particularly  "objectionable"  child.  He  was  one  of 
those  children  who  "  wanted  to  know,  you  know,"  why  this  thing 
was  so ;  why  that  other  thing  was  not.  He  showed  little  defer- 
ence, I  am  afraid,  to  the  formal  didactic  prelections  of  his 
teachers.  Not  that  he  was  idle  ;  far  from  that.  We  are  told  that 
he  delighted  in  the  acquisition  of  all  kinds  of  knowledge  that 
could  be  gained  by  his  own  efforts,  while  he  steadily  resisted  what 
was  imposed  on  him  by  authority  ;  admitting  nothing  which  was 
primd  facie  contestable ;  rejecting  whatever  he  could  not  see 
clearly  ;  refusing  to  learn  by  heart  grammars,  or,  indeed,  any  mere 
digests  of  conclusions  made  by  others.  At  the  same  time  he  eagerly 
committed  to  memory  passages  of  authors  which  pleased  him, 
thus  spontaneously  preferring  the  society  of  the  "  masters  of  the 
grammarians  "  to  that  of  the  grammarians  themselves.  Even  as 
a  child,  nearly  everything  he  knew  he  had  taught  himself.  He 
was,  in  short,  ill  adapted  to  be  a  pupil  of  any  of  those  methods 
which,  in  Mrs.  Pipchin's  fashion,  are  intended  to  open  the  mind 
of  a  child  like  an  oyster,  instead  of  encouraging  it  to  develop  like  a 


EDUCATIONAL  METHODS.  79 

flower.  As  a  Professor,  his  rooms  were  always  crowded  with  eager 
pupils;  and  his  inaugural  address,  at  Lou  vain,  was  received,  we 
are  told  by  one  who  was  present,  with  an  enthusiasm  like  that 
which  usually  greeted  Talma  on  the  stage. 

His  style  of  teaching,  as  a  Professor,  before  the  invention  of  his 
method,  was  striking  and  original.  Instead  of  pouring  forth  a 
flood  of  information  on  the  subject  under  attention  from  his  own 
ample  stores,  explaining  everything,  and  thus  too  frequently  super- 
seding, in  a  great  degree,  the  pupil's  own  investigation  of  it, 
Jacotot,  after  a  simple  statement  of  the  object  of  the  lesson,  with 
its  leading  divisions,  boldly  started  it  as  a  quarry  for  the  class  to 
hunt  down,  and  invited  every  member  to  take  part  in  the  chase. 
All  were  at  liberty  to  raise  questions,  make  objections,  and  suggest 
answers,  to  ask  for  facts  as  the  basis  of  arguments,  to  repudiate 
mere  didactic  authority.  During  the  discussion,  the  teacher  con- 
fined himself  to  asking  questions,  to  suggesting  now  and  then  a  fresh 
scent,  to  requiring  clear  statements  and  mutual  courtesy ;  but  of 
teaching,  in  the  popular  sense  of  the  term,  as  consisting  in  the 
authoritative  communication  of  knowledge,  there  was  little  or  none. 
His  object  throughout  was  to  excite,  maintain,  and  direct  the  in- 
tellectual energies  of  his  pupils  —  to  train  them  to  think.  The 
lesson  was  concluded  by  his  summing  up  the  arguments  that  had 
been  adduced,  and  stating  clearly  the  results  obtained.* 

"VVe  come  now  to  the  origin  of  Jaco tot's  method.  In  entering 
on  his  duties  at  Louvain,  he  found  that  he  had  to  lecture  to 
students,  many  of  whom  knew  nothing  of  French.  As  he  was 

*  Mr.  Wilson  of  Rugby,  in  his  admirable  paper  in  the  "Essays  on  a  Liberal  Education," 
thus  describes,  in  almost  identical  terms,  what  he  considers  a  proper  method  of  teaching 
science :  — 

"Theory  and  experience  alike  convince  me  that  the  master  who  is  teaching  a  class  quite 
unfamiliar  with  scientific  method,  ought  to  make  his  class  teach  themselves,  by  thinking  out 
the  subject  of  the  lecture  with  them,  taking  up  their  suggestions  and  illustrations,  criticizing 
them,  hunting  them  dawn,  and  proving  a  suggestion  barren  or  an  illustration  inapt;  starting 
them  on  a  fresh  scent  when  they  are  at  fault,  reminding  them  of  some  familiar  fact  they  had 
overlooked,  and  so  eliciting  out  of  the  chaos  of  vague  notions  that  arc  afloat  on  the  matter 
in  hand  —  be  it  the  laws  of  motion,  the  evaporation  of  water,  or  the  origin  of  the  drift  — 
something  of  order,  and  concatenation,  and  interest,  before  the  key  to  the  mystery  is  given, 
even  if,  after  all,  it  has  to  be  given.  Training  to  think,  not  to  be  a  mechanic  or  surveyor, 
must  be  lii>t  and  foremost  as  his  object.  So  valuable  tire  the  subjects  intrinsically,  and  such 
excellent  models  do  they  provide,  that  the  most  stupid  and  didactic  teaching  will  not  be  use- 
less, but  It  will  not  be  the  same  source  of  power  that  "  the  method  of  investigation  "  will  be 
in  the  hands  of  a  good  master.  Some  few  will  work  out  a  logic  of  proof,  and  a  logic  of  dis- 
covery, when  the  facts  and  laws  that  are  discovered  and  proved  have  had  time  to  lie  and 
crystallize  in  their  minds.  But  imbued  with  scientific  method  they  scarcely  will  be,  unices  it 
springs  up  spontaneously  in  them." — "On  Teaching  Natural  Science  In  Schools. "  Essays 
on  a  Liberal  Education,  pp.  2S1,  2S2. 


80  EDUCATIONAL   METHODS. 

himself  ignorant  of  Flemish,  the  problem  was  how  to  teach  them. 
He  solved  it  in  this  way.     He  put  into  their  hands  copies  of 
Te'lemaque,  which  contained  a  Flemish  translation,  not  literal,  on 
the  opposite  page.     After  some  exercises  in  pronunciation,  he  di- 
rected the  students,  through  an  interpreter,  to  commit  to  memory 
a  few  sentences  of  the  French  text,  and  gather  their  general  mean- 
ing from  the  version  in  their  own  language.     They  were  told,  on 
the  second  day,  and  for  several  days,  to  add  other  portions  in  the 
same  way,  while  carefully  repeating  from  the  beginning.     This 
process,  the  laying  in  of  materials,  was  repeated  until  a  page  or 
two  of  the  book  was  thoroughly  known  —  that  is,  known  so  that 
the  pupils  could  go  on  with  any  sentence  of  the  French  text  from 
memory,  when  the  first  word  was  given,  or  quote  the  whole  sen- 
tence in  which  any  given  word  occurred,  while  they  had  at  the 
same  time  a  general  idea  of  the  meaning.     The  teacher  now  began, 
through  his  interpreter,  to  put  questions,   in  order  to  test  their 
knowledge,  not  only  of  the  sentences,  as  wholes,  but  also  of  the 
component  phrases  and  words.     As  the  process  of  learning  by 
heart,  and  repeating  from  the  beginning,  went  on,  the  questions 
became  more  close  and  specific,  so  as  to  induce  in  the  pupils' 
minds  an  analysis  of  the  text  into  its  minutest  elements.     When 
about  half  the  first  book  of  Telemaque  was  thus  intimately  known, 
Jacotot  told  them  to  relate  in  their  own  French,  good  or  bad,  the 
substance,  not  the  exact  words,  of  this  or  that  paragraph  of  the 
portion  that  they  knew,  or  to  read  a  paragraph  of  another  part  of 
the  book,  and  write  down  or  say  what  it  was  about.     He  was  sur- 
prised  at   their   success   in  this   synthetic  use  of  their  fund   of 
materials.     He  praised  their  achievements  ;  saw,  but  took  no  notice 
of,  the  blunders ;  or  if  he  did,  it  was  simply  to  require  the  pupils 
to  correct  them  themselves  by  reference  to  the  text  (just  as  Ascham 
did) .     He  reckoned  on  the  power  of  the  process  itself,  which  in- 
volved an  active  exercise  of  the  mind,  to  correct  blunders  which 
arose   from   inadvertence.     In  a  very  short  time,  these  youths, 
learning,  repeating,  answering  questions,  were  able  to  relate  any- 
thing that  they  had  first  read  over.     Compositions  of  different 
kinds,  their  text  furnishing  both  subjects  and  language,  were  then 
given,  and  it  was  found  that  as  they  advanced  they  spontaneously 
recognized  in  their  practice  the  rules  of  orthography  and  grammar 
(without  having  learned  them) ,  and  at  length  wrote  a  language  not 
their  own  better  (as  Jacotot  somewhat  extravagantly  declared)  — 
that  is  with  a  more  complete  command  of  the  force,  correctness, 


EDUCATIONAL   METHODS.  81 

and  even  grace  of  style  —  than  either  himself  or  any  of  his  col- 
leagues. 

All  were  surprised  at  the  result  of  his  experiment,  but  Jacotot 
alone  perceived  the  principles  involved  in  it.  He  saw  — 

(1.)  That  his  pupils  had  learned  French,  not  through  his 
knowledge  of  it — the  circumstances  forbade  that  —  but  through  the 
exercise  of  their  own  minds  upon  the  matter  of  the  text,  which 
they  had  committed  to  memory.  If  they  had  had  any  teacher,  the 
book  had  been  their  teacher.  It  was  from  that  source  they  had 
derived  all  their  knowledge,  and  the  exercise  of  their  observing, 
remembering,  comparing,  generalizing,  judging,  and  analyzing 
powers  upon  it  had  supplied  them  with  the  materials  they  employed 
in  then-  synthetic  applications. 

(2.)  He  saw  that,  though  he  had  been  nominally  their  teacher, 
they  had  really  taught  themselves, —  that  the  acquisitions  they  had 
made  were  their  own  acquisitions,  the  fruit  of  their  own  mental 
exertions,  —  that  the  method  by  which  they  had  learned  was  really 
their  method,  not  his. 

(3.)  He  deduced  from  this  observation,  that  the  function  of 
the  teacher  is  that  of  an  external  moral  force,  always  in  operation 
to  excite,  maintain  and  direct  the  mental  action  of  the  pupils, 
— to  encourage  and  sympathize  with  his  efforts,  but  never  to  super- 
sede them. 

After  awhile  Jacotot  presented,  in  the  form  given  below,  the 
result  of  his  meditations  on  the  principles  involved  in  his  experi- 
ments. This  precept  for  the  guidance  of  the  teacher,  is  in  fact  — 
as  will  be  at  once  seen  —  an  epitome  of  the  method  of  the  learner, 
and  indeed  of  all  learners,  whatever  be  their  age,  or  the  subject 
they  may  wish  to  learn  so  as  really  to  know. 

This,  then,  is  the  fundamental  precept  of  Jacotot's  method :  — 
llfaut  opprendre  qnelque  chose,  etyrapporter  tout  le  reste  ;  i.  e.,  the 
pupil  must  learn  something,  and  refer  all  the  rest  to  it.  When 
further  explanation  was  demanded,  he  would  reply  to  this  effect :  — 

(1)  Learrt  —  i.  e.,  learn  so  as  to  know  thoroughly,  perfectly, 
immovably  (imperturbablement) ,  as  well  six  months  or  twelve 
months  hence  as  now  —  something,  a  portion  of  a  book,  for  in- 
stance. (2)  Repeat  that  something,  the  portion  learned,  in- 
cessantly—  i.e.,  every  day  or  very  frequently  (sans  cesse),  from 
the  beginning,  without  any  omission,  so  that  no  part  of  it  be 
forgotten.  (3)  Reflect  upon  the  matter  thus  acquired  —  analyze  it, 
decompose  it,  re-combine  the  elements,  make  it  a  real  mental  pos- 
session in  all  its  details,  interpret  the  unknown  by  it.  (4)  Verify 


82  EDUCATIONAL   METHODS. 

—  test  general  remarks  —  i.e.,  grammatical  and  other  rules  —  by 
comparing  them  with  the  facts  —  the  phraseology  and  construc- 
tions which  you  already  know.     In    brief,  learn,  repeat,  reflect, 
verify,  or  if  you  like,  karn,  verify,  repeat,  reflect;  so  that  you 
learn  first,  the  order  of  the  other  processes  is  unimportant.     Know 
facts,  then ;  bring  all  the  powers  of  the  mind  to  bear  upon  them ; 
and  repeat  what  you  know,  to  prevent  its  being  lost.     This  is  the 
method  of  Jacotot,  which  may  be  otherwise  represented  thus  :  — 

In  all  your  learning,  do  homage  to  the  authority  of  facts. 

( 1 )  Apprenez.  —  Learn  them  accurately  ;  grasp  them  firmly  ; 
apprehend,  so  as  to  know  them. 

( 2  )  Rapportez.  —  Compare  them  with  each  other,  interpret  one 
by  another,  make  the  known  explain  the  unknown,  generalize  them, 
classify  them,  analyze  them  into  their  elements,  re-combine  the 
elements,  attach  new  knowledge  to  the  pegs  already  fixed  in  your 
mind. 

(3  )  Repetez.  —  Don't  let  the  facts  slip  away  from  you.  To  lose 
them,  is  to  waste  the  labor  you  spent  in  acquiring  them.  Keep 
them,  therefore,  continually  before  you  by  repetition. 

Veriflez.  —  Test  general  principles,  said  to  be  founded  on  them 
by  confronting  them  with  your  facts.  Bring  your  grammatical 
rules  to  the  facts,  and  explain  the  facts  by  them. 

In  all  this  process,  the  pupil  is  employing  natural  means  for  a 
natural  end.  He  is  doing  what  be  did  in  the  case  of  the  pile-driv- 
ing machine — observing,  comparing,  investigating,  discovering,  in- 
venting ;  and  if  we  apply  the  tests  —  Mr.  Marcel's  or  any  other  — 
of  a  good  method,  we  find  them  all  in  this,  which  is  the  method  of 
the  pupil,  teaching  himself  under  the  direction  of  the  master. 
-  It  is,  in  short,  as  said  before,  the  method  by  which  all  learners 

—  whether  the  little  child  in  nature's  infant  school,  or  the  adult 
man  in  the  school  of  science — learn  whatever  they  really  know. 
In  both  cases,  the  essential  basis  of  all  mental  progress  is  a  knowl- 
edge of  facts  —  a  knowledge  which,  to  be  fruitful,  must  be  gained 
at  first  hand,  and  not  on  the  report  of  others,  must  be  strict  and 
accurate,  and  must  be  firmly  retained.     These  are    the  essential 
conditions  for  the  subsequent  operations  by  which  knowledge  is 
appropriated,  assimilated,  and  incorporated  with  the  organic  life 
of  the  mind.     On  this  point,  however,  I  cannot  further  dwell. 

In  order  to  make  the  principles  of  Jacotot' s  method  clearer  by  a 
practical  example,  I  will  give,  in  some  detail,  an  account  of  his 
plan  of  teaching  Reading. 

In  this  method,  the  sacred  mysteries  of  b-a,  ba ;  b-e,  be,  in  pro- 


EDUCATIONAL  METHODS.  83 

nouncing  which,  Dr.  Bell  gravely  tells  us,  "  the  sound  is  an  echo 
to  the  sense,"  are  altogether  exploded;  those  columns  too,  all 
symmetrically  arranged  in  the  vestibule  of  the  temple  of  knowledge 
to  the  dismay  of  the  young  pilgrim  to  its  shriue,  are  entirely  ig- 
nored. The  sphynx  of  the  alphabet  never  asks  him  what  see-a-tee 
spells,  nor  devours  him  if  he  fails  to  give  the  impossible  answer, 
cat.  The  child  who  has  already  learnt  to  speak  by  hearing  and 
using  whole  words,  not  separate  letters  —  saying  baby,  not  bee-a, 
bee-wy  —  has  whole  words  placed  before  him.  These  words  are 
at  first  treated  as  pictures,  which  have  names  that  he  has  to  learn 
to  associate  with  the  forms,  in  the  same  way  that  he  already  calls 
a  certain  animal  shape  a  cow,  and  another  a  dog,  and  knows  a  cer- 
tain face  as  mamma's,  and  another  as  papa's.  Suppose  we  take 
a  little  story,  which  begins  thus  :  — 

"  Frank  and  Robert  were  two  little  boys  about  eight  years  old." 
There  is,  of  course,  a  host  of  reasons  to  show  the  unreasonable- 
ness of  beginning  to  teach  reading  by  whole  words.  We  ought, 
we  are  told,  to  begin  with  the  elements,  put  them  together  for  the 
child,  arrange  words  in  classes  for  him,  keep  all  difficulties  out  of 
his  way,  proceed  step  by  step  from  one  combination  to  another,  and 
so  on.  Reflecting,  however,  that  Nature  does  not  teach  speaking 
nor  give  her  object-lessons  in  this  way,  but  first  presents  wholes, 
aggregates,  compounds,  which  her  pupil's  analytic  faculty  resolves 
into  their  elements,  the  teacher  sets  aside  all  these  speculative  dif- 
ficulties ;  and,  believing  in  the  native  capacity  of  the  child  to  exer- 
cise on  printed  words  the  same  powers  which  he  has  already 
exercised  on  spoken  words,  forms  the  connection  between  the  two 
by  saying  to  the  child,  "Look  at  me"  (not  at  the  book).  He 
then  very  deliberately  and  distinctly,  but  without  grimacing,  utters 
the  sound  "  Frank  "  two  or  three  times,  and  gets  the  child  to  do 
the  same  repeatedly,  so  as  to  secure  from  the  first  a  clear  and  firm 
articulation.  He  then  points  to  the  printed  word,  repeats  "Frank" 
and  requires  the  child,  in  view  of  it,  to  utter  the  same  sound  several 
times.  The  first  word  is  learned  and  known.  The  teacher  adds 
"  and."  The  child  reads  "  Frank  and."  The  teacher  adds  "  Rob- 
ert." The  child  reads  "Frank  and  Robert."  The  teacher  asks, 
"  Which  is  '  Robert '  ?  «  and  '  ?  What  is  that  word  ?"  (pointing  to 
it),  "and  that?"  &c.  The  teacher  says,  "Show  me  'and,' 
4  Robert,'  '  Frank,'  in  the  same  page  —  in  any  page." 

The  same  process  is  repeated  with  the  rest  of  the  words  of  the 
sentence,  and  comes  out  thus  :  — 


84  EDUCATIONAL  METHODS. 

Frank 
Frank  and 
Frank  and  Robert 
Frank  and  Robert  were,  &c.  ; 

the  pupil  is  told  each  word  once  for  all,  and  repeats  from  the  begin- 
ning, that  nothing  may  be  forgotten.  By  thus  (1)  learning,  (2) 
repeating,  he  exercises  perception  and  memory. 

Suppose  that  the  next  sentences  are  — 

"  They  were  both  very  fond  of  playing  with  balls,  tops,  and 
marbles. 

"  One  day,  as  they  were  playing  in  the  garden,  it  began  to  thun- 
der very  loud  and  to  rain  very  hard. 

"  So  they  ran  under  the  apple  tree." 

All  the  words  of  these  sentences  may  be  gradually  learned,  in  the 
same  way,  in  four,  six,  or  ten  lessons.  There  is  no  need  for  haste. 
The  only  thing  needful  is  accurate  knowledge  —  to  have  something 
( quelque  chose)  thoroughly,  perfectly,  immoveably  known  (imper- 
turbablement  apprise). 

The  child  has  up  to  this  point  imitated  the  sounds  given  him,  has 
associated  them  with  the  signs,  has  exercised  observation  and 
memory  ;  so  that  wherever  he  meets  with  these  words  in  his  book, 
the  sign  will  suggest  the  sound  —  or  given  the  sound,  he  will  at 
once  point  out  the  sign. 

The  teacher  may  now,  if  he  thinks  fit,  begin  to  exercise  the  child's 
analytical  and  inductive  faculties  ;  not,  however,  necessarily  on  any 
symmetrical  plan.  He  says,  "  Look  at  me,"  and  pronounces  very 
distinctly  f-rank,  repeating  the  process  in  view  of  the  printed  word. 
He  does  the  same  with/-ond  and/-as£,  and  asks  the  child,  "Which 
letter  is/?"  (the  articulation  not  the  name  e/),  The  child  points 
it  out,  and  in  this  way/  (that  is,  the  articulation,  the  power  of  it) 
is  learned  and  known. 

The  teacher  covers  over  the  /  in  fmnk,  and  asks  what  is  left. 
The  child  replies  "  rank."  The  tfcacher  proceeds  as  before,  utter- 
ing r-anJc,  and  requiring  the  child  to  read  for  himself  JR-obert,  r-ain 
?--an,  and  thus  the  articulation  of  initial  r  is  mastered.  In  the  same 
w:iy,  the  articulation  I  is  gained  from  l-ittle  and  l-oud.  Nor  do  the 
mutes,  as  6  and  p  present  any  difficulty.  The  utterance  of  b-oys, 
b-oth,  b-alls,  b-egan  suggests  the  necessary  configuration  of  the  or- 
gans, and  the  function  of  these  letters  is  appreciated. 

The  teacher  may  next,  if  he  pleases,  though  it  is  not  necessary 
to  anticipate  the  natural  results  of  the  process,  try  the  synthetic 
or  combining  powers  of  the  child.  He  writes  on  a  black-board,  in 


EDUCATIONAL  METHODS.  85 

printing  letters,  the  words,  fold,  falls,  fops,  fain,  frond,  fray,  ray, 
rap,  lank,  flank,  last,  loth,  lops,  let,  lair,  lap,  bank,  bat,  bold,  bay, 
blank,  &c.,  and  requires  the  child,  witJiout  any  help  whatever,  to 
read  them  himself.  Most  children  will  do  this  at  once.  If  there 
is  any  difficulty,  a  simple  reference,  to  the  words  Frank,  little, 
boys,  &c.,  without  any  explanation,  will  immediately  dispel  it. 

It  is  not  necessary,  I  repeat,  for  the  teacher  thus  to  anticipate 
the  inevitable  results  of  the  process.  The  quickened  mind  of  the 
pupil  will,  of  its  own  accord,  analyze  and  combine,  in  its  natural 
instinct  to  interpret  the  unknown  by  the  known.  The  only  essen- 
tial parts  of  the  process  are  learning  and  repeating  from  the 
beginning ;  all  the  rest  depends  on  these.  And  in  guiding  the 
mind  of  the  pupil  to  the  intellectual  use  of  his  materials,  the  teacher 
should  be  under  no  anxiety  about  the  length  of  the  process.  He 
should  often  practise  a  masterly  inactivity ;  should  know  how  to 
gain  time  by  losing  it — to  advance  by  standing  still.  If  he  have  a 
genuine  belief  in  the  native  capacity  of  his  pupils'  minds,  he  need 
have  no  fear  as  to  the  result.  The  pupil  (1)  learning,  (2)  repeat- 
ing, (3)  reflecting  —  i.  e.,  analyzing  or  de-composing,  (4)  re-com- 
bining, is  all  along  employing  his  active  powers  as  an  observer 
and  investigator,  and  learns  at  length  to  read  accurately  and  to  ar- 
ticulate justly.  The  names  of  the  letters  may  be  given  him  when  he 
has  thus  learned  their  powers.  It  is  a  convenience,  nothing  more, 
to  know  them.  The  young  carpenter  saws  and  planes  no  better 
for  knowing  the  names  of  his  tools. 

Such,  then,  is  Jacotot's  method  applied  to  the  teaching  of  Read- 
ing. It  ought,  by  theory,  to  accomplish  this  object,  and  it  does. 
"While  philosophers  are  discussing  the  propriety  of  learning  a  sub- 
ject without  beginning  secundum  artem  at  what  they  call  the  be- 
ginning, the  child,  like  the  epic  poet,  dashes  in  medias  res,  and 
arrives  at  the  end  long  before  the  discussion  is  over.  A  young 
investigator  of  this  school,  initiated  in  the  habit  of  actively  em- 
ploying his  mind  on  the  subject  of  study,  laughs  at  the  ingenious 
arrangements,  however  kindly  meant,  furnished  by  various  spelling- 
book  makers,  to  aid  him  in  his  career.  lie  turns  aside  from  ram, 
rem,  rim,  rom,  rum  —  adge,  edge,  idge,  oclge,  and  udge, — indeed, 
from  all  the  scientific  permutations  made  for  him  on  the  assumption 
that  he  cannot  make  them  himself.  He  is  told  that  there  is  a  go- 
cart  provided  to  help  him  to  walk,  —  that  the  food  is  ready  minced 
for  his  eating  :  but  he  chooses  to  walk  and  comminute  his  food  for 
himself.  Why  should  we  prevent  him? 

This  method  is  essentially  the  same  as  Mr.  Curwen's  "  Look  and 


86  EDUCATIONAL  METHODS. 

Say  Method,"  and  that  of  the  little  book  entitled  "  Reading  with- 
out Spelling,  or  the  Teacher's  Delight ;  "  the  only  difference  being 
that  the  teacher  here  empk^s  the  process  consciously  as  a  means 
of  developing  and  training  the  mental  powers  as  well  as  of  teach- 
ing to  read,  of  education  as  well  as  of  instruction. 

My  pleasant  task  is  now  done.  I  have  left  much  unsaid  that  I 
wished  to  sa}- ;  and  in  criticising  others,  have,  no  doubt,  exposed 
myself  to  criticism.  As  that  is  the  common  lot,  I  ought  not  to 
complain  of  it.  I  will,  in  conclusion,  go  over  the  main  points 
which  I  have  touched  upon  in  the  three  lectures. 

In  in}-  first  Lecture  I  endeavored  to  show  that  education  is  both 
a  science  and  an  art,  and  that  the  principles  of  the  science 
account  for,  explain,  and  give  laws  to  the  processes  of  the  art ;  that 
the  educator's  own  education  is  incomplete  without  a  knowledge  of 
these  principles,  which  are  ultimately  grounded  on  those  of  Physi- 
ology, Psychology,  and  Ethics  ;  that  this  knowledge  is  'useful,  not 
only  in  its  application  to  the  normal  phenomena  occurring  in  prac- 
tice, but  especially  to  the  abnormal,  which  demand  for  their  treat- 
ment all  the  resources  of  the  science  ;  that  knowledge  of  this  kind 
is  comparatively  rare  among  educators,  and  that  its  rarity  is  the 
main  cause  of  the  unsatisfactory  condition  of  much  of  our  education. 

In  the  second  Lecture,  assuming  the  education  of  the  educator, 
and  confining  myself  to  teaching,  or  the  art  of  intellectual  educa- 
tion, I  endeavored  to  show  that  the  teacher  ought,  in  the  first 
place,  to  have  a  just  conception  of  his  relation  to  his  pupil ;  that 
this  was  gained  by  his  seeing  in  the  child  one  who  had  learned,  or 
taught  himself,  all  that  he  already  knew,  and  inferring,  therefore, 
that  it  was  his  business  to  continue  the  process  already  begun ; 
that  it  thus  appeared  that  the  child's  process  of  learning  was,  to 
a  great  extent,  a  guide  to  the  teacher's  process  of  teaching,  and 
that  the  joint  operation  in  which  both  were  engaged  resolved  itself 
into  the  superintendence,  or  direction,  by  the  teacher,  of  the 
pupil's  method  of  self-instruction. 

In  this  Lecture,  I  have  shown  that  a  method  of  teaching  any 
subject  is  a  special  mode  of  applying  the  art  of  teaching  ;  that  to 
be  a  good  method,  it  must  have  certain  characteristics,  deduced 
from  successful  practice,  and  ultimately  referable  to  the  principles 
of  the  science  of  education,  and  I  have  described,  and  to  some 
extent  criticized,  a  few  well-known  methods. 

My  simple  aim,  in  these  Lectures,  has  been  to  lead  the  educator 
to  form  a  high  idea  of  his  work  ;  to  show  that  there  are  principles 
underlying  his  practice  which  it  is  important  for  him  to  know,  and 


EDUCATIONAL  METHODS.  87 

to  induce  him  to  study  and  apply  them,  not  only  for  his  own  sake, 
but  as  a  protest  against  the  despotism  of  routine,  which  has  so  long 
hindered  education  from  claiming  its  professional  rights  in  England. 
I  trust  I  have  not  altogether  failed  to  accomplish  my  purpose. 


APPENDIX. 


I.  —  THE  RELATIVE    CLAIMS  OF  SCIENCE    AND    LITERATURE    IN  THE  CUR- 
RICULUM OF  SCHOOL   INSTRUCTION. 

Lest  it  should  be  supposed  that  the  writer  believes  that  the  teaching  of 
science  ought  to  constitute  of  itself  the  curriculum  of  school  instruction  or 
indeed  to  form  its  vital  characteristic,  he  begs  to  append  an  extract  from  a 
lecture  he  delivered  at  the  College  of  Preceptors  in  1866,  on  "  The  Curricu- 
lum of  Modern  Education." —  This  passage  will  show  his  opinion  of  the 
relative  value  of  scientific  and  literary  instruction  generally,  and  is  quite 
consistent  with  the  argument  advanced  in  these  lectures,  that  the  earliest 
instruction  of  children  ought  to  be  a  continuation  of  the  natural  process  by 
which  they  have  learnt  what  they  already  know,  and  that  this  rudimentary 
course  of  practice  in  the  art  of  observing  and  discovering  is  the  best  prepara- 
tion both  for  scientific  and  literary  studies.  It  is  for  the  sake  of  literary 
studies  themselves,  and  in  order  that  they  may  be  more  efficiently  pursued 
by  applying  to  them  the  method  of  scientific  instruction,  that  the  writer 
recommends  the  preliminary  training  of  the  mind  on  natural  objects.  All 
teaching,  whatever  be  its  subject,  should  be  scientific  in  its  spirit,  if  it  is  to 
be  really  quickening.  How  far  the  ordinary  grammar-school  instruction  is 
so,  may  be  seen  by  the  evidence  given  before  the  Public  Schools  Commission 
of  1862-3,  the  general  result  of  which  is  thus  pithily  stated  by  the  Senior 
Censor  of  Christ  Church  : —  "  The  mass  of  young  men,  on  entering  the  Uni- 
versity (from  the  public  schools  ),  have  everything  to  learn,  and  no  desire 
to  learn  anything.  In  fact,  very  few  of  those  who  are  candidates  for  ma- 
triculation can  construe  with  accuracy  a  piece  from  an  author  whom  they 
profess  to  have  read.  Wo  never  try  them  with  an  unseen  passage ;  it  would 
bo  useless  to  do  so."  The  Junior  Censor  of  Christ  Church  adds :  —"The  aver- 
age men  (from  the  public  schools )  bring  up  but  small  results  of  the  training 
towhich  they  have  been  subjected  for  years.  There  is  a  general  want  of  accu- 
racy in  their  work.  .  .  .  They  come  up  to  us  with  very  unawakened  minds, 
and"  habits  of  mental  indolence  and  inaccuracy."  A  third  witness,  a  public 
examiner  of  Oxford,  also  testifies  that  "the  boys  are  not  well  grounded 
in  the  subjects  to  which  most  of  their  time  has  been  given ;  and  on  other 
points,  less  strictly  academical,  their  ignorance  is  sometimes  surprising. 
...  The  mass  of  boys  sent  out  from  Eton  are  very  ignorant  indeed."  It  is 


88  EDUCATIONAL   METHODS. 

difficult  to  believe  that  the  teaching  which  produces  such  results  as  these 
can  be  scientific  in  its  character  or  quickening  in  its  spirit. 


"If  science,  then,  is  to  constitute  a  real  discipline  for  the  mind,  much, 
nay  everything,  will  depend  on  the  manner  in  which  it  is  studied.  In  the 
first  place,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  pupil  is  about  to  study  things, 
not  words ;  and  therefore  treatises  on  science  are  not,  in  the  first  instance, 
to  be  placed  before  him.  He  must  commence  with  the  accurate  examina- 
tion of  the  objects  and  phenomena  themselves,  not  of  descriptions  of  them 
prepared  by  others.  By  this  means,  not  only  will  his  attention  be  excited, 
the  power  of  observation  previously  awakened  much  strengthened,  and  the 
senses  exercised  and  disciplined,  but  the  very  important  habit  of  doing 
homage  to  the  authority  of  facts,  rather  than  to  the  authority  of  men,  be 
initiated.  These  different  objects  and  phenomena  may  be  placed  and  viewed 
together,  and  thus  the  mental  habits  of  comparison  and  discrimination  may 
be  usefully  practised.  They  may,  in  the  next  place,  be  methodically  ar- 
ranged and  classified,  and  thus  the  mind  may  become  accustomed  to  an  or- 
derly arrangement  of  its  knowledge.  Then  the  accidental  may  be  distin- 
guished from  the  essential,  the  common  from  the  special,  and  so  the  habit 
of  generalization  may  be  acquired ;  and  lastly,  advancing  from  effects  to 
causes,  or  conversely  from  principles  to  their  necessary  conclusions,  the 
pupil  becomes  acquainted  with  induction  and  deduction  —  processes  of  the 
highest  value  and  importance.  It  is  no  small  advantage,  moreover,  that 
this  kind  of  study  affords,  both  in  its  pursuit  and  in  its  results  —  both  in 
the  chase  and  the  capture  — a  very  large  amount  of  legitimate  and  generous 
mental  pleasure,  and  of  a  kind  which  the  pupil  will  probably  be  desirous  of 
renewing  for  himself  after  he  has  left  school.  After  all,  however,  it  will 
be  observed,  that  while  the  study  of  the  physical  sciences  tends  to  give 
power  over  the  material  forces  of  the  universe,  it  leaves  untouched  the 
greater  forces  of  the  human  heart ;  it  makes  a  botanist,  a  geologist,  an  elec- 
trician, an  architect,  an  engineer,  but  it  does  not  make  a  man.  The  hopes, 
the  fears,  the  hatreds,  and  the  loves ;  the  emotions  which  stir  us  to  heroic 
action,  the  reverence  which  bows  in  the  presence  of  the  inexpressibly  good 
and  great ;  the  sensitive  moral  taste  which  shrinks  from  vice,  and  approves 
virtue ;  the  sensitive  mental  taste  which  appreciates  the  sublime  and  beauti- 
ful in  art,  and  sheds  delicious  tears  over  the  immortal  works  of  genius  — 
all  this  wonderful  world  of  sensation,  emotion,  and  thought  lies  outside  of 
that  world  which  is  the  especial  object  of  the  study  of  the  physical  sciences." 
("The  Curriculum  of  Modern  Education,"  pp.  18,  19.) 


EDUCATIONAL  METHODS.  89 


LIST   OF  BOOKS  ON    EDUCATION. 

SUITABLE   FOR  THE  STUDY   OF   CANDIDATES  FOR  THE 
DIPLOMAS  OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  PRECEPTORS. 


[Those  marked  *  are  the  most  important.] 


SCIENCES  ON  WHICH  THAT  OF  EDUCATION  is  BASED. 
Physical  Education. 

Dr.  Carpenter's  Animal  Pysiology.     (Bell  &  Daldy.) 
*Dr.  Southwood  Smith's  Philosophy  of  Health.      (Longmans.) 
*Huxle3''s  Lessons  in  Elementary  Physiology.     (Macmillan.) 
*Dr.  Andrew  Combe's  Principles  of  Physiology,  applied  to  the 

preservation  of  Health,  and  the  improvement  of  Physical 

and  Mental  Education.     (Simpkin.) 

Psychology  and  Ethics. 

*Bain's  The  Senses  and  the  Intellect.     (Longmans.) 

*Bain's  The  Emotions  and  the  Will.     (Longmans.) 

*Bain's  Mental  and  Moral  Science  ;  a  compendium  of  Psychology 

and  Ethics.     (Longmans.) 
*Morell's  Introduction  to  Mental  Philosophy  on   the   Inductive 

Method.      (Longmans.) 
•Mansell's  Metaphysics ;    or,   the  Philosophy  of  Consciousness. 

(Black.) 
*Beneke's  Elements  of  Psychology.     Translated  from  the  German. 

(Parker.) 

Dugald  Stewart's  Moral  Philosophy.     (Lmc.) 
Abercrombie's    Inquiries    concerning    the   Intellectual   Powers. 

(Murray.) 

Abercrombie's  Philosophy  of  the  Moral  Feelings.      (Murray.) 
Locke's  Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding.     (Tegg.) 


90  EDUCATIONAL  METHODS. 

Logic. 

*Jevons'  Elementary  Lessons  in  Logic.     (Macmillan.) 
*Bain's  Inductive  and  Deductive  Logic.     2  vols.     (Longmans.) 
*J.  S.  Mill's  Logic.     2  vols.     (Longmans.) 

Archbishop  Thompson's  Laws  of  Thought.      (Longmans.) 

Whately's  Logic.     (Longmans.) 

THEORY  AND  PRACTICE  OF  EDUCATION. 
Theory  mainly. 

•Herbert  Spencer's  Essays  on  Education,  Physical,  Mental,  and 

Moral.     (  Williams  &  Norgate.) 
•Lectures  on  Education,  delivered  at  the  Royal  Institution,  by 

Whewell,  Faraday,  Latham,  Daubeny,  Tyndall,  Paget,  and 

Hodgson.      (Parker.) 

Jacob  Abbott's  "Teacher."     Mayo's  edition.     (Hatchard.) 
•Rousseau's  Emile.      (Paris.) 
•Marcel's   Language   as   a  means   of  Mental   Culture.     2   vols. 

(Chapman  &  Hall.) 

Tate's  Philosophy  of  Education.     (Longmans.) 
Craig's  Philosophy  of  Training  ;  or,  the  Principles  and  Art  of  a 

Normal  Education.     (Simpkin.) 
Essays  on   a   Liberal  Education.     By  Seeley,  Farrar,  Parker, 

J.  M.  Wilson,  Johnson,  and  Hales.     (Macmillan.) 
The  Claims  of  Scientific  Education.     Addresses  and  arguments 

by  Tyndall,    Henfrey,    Huxley,   De    Morgan,    Carpenter, 

Herschell,  &c.     Edited  by  Dr.  Youmans.     (Macmillan.) 
Locke  on  Education.     St.  John's  Edition.     (Hatchards.) 
Stow's  Training  System.     (Longmans.) 
Fleury's  Traite  du  Choix  et  de  la  Methode  des  Etudes.     (Paris, 

1759.) 
Milton's  Tractate  on  Education. 

Practice  mainly. 

•Edgeworth's  Practical  Education.     2  vols.     (Baldwin.) 
•Currie's  Principles  and   Practice  of  Early  and   Infant  School 

Education,  and  of   Common   School  Education.     2  vols. 

(Laurie.) 
•Gill's  Introductory  Text-Book  to  School  Education,  Method,  and 

School  Management.     (Longmans.) 
Home   and   Colonial   School  Society's   Manual   of   Elementary 

Instruction.     2  vols.     (Hamilton  &  Co.) 


EDUCATIONAL   METHODS.  91 

*IIome  and  Colonial  School  Society's  Model  Lessons.     (Hamilton 

&  Co.) 
Home  and  Colonial  School  Society's  Practical  Remarks  on  Early 

Education.      (Hamilton  &  Co.) 

Manual  of  Human  Culture.     By  Dr.  Garvey.     (Bell  &  Daldy.) 
•Dunn's  Principles  of  Teaching.      (Sunday  School  Union.) 
AViUKrspin's  Infant  Education.      (Hodson.) 
Joseph!  Juvencii  Ratio  Diseendi  et  Docendi.     (Paris.) 
Wood's   Account  of   the   Edinburgh   Sessional    School.     Edin- 
burgh:    (  Wardlaw.) 

*Pillans's  Rationale  of  Discipline.      (Taylor  &   Walton.) 
*Dean  Dawes's   Suggestive  Hints  towards  improved  Secular  In- 
struction.    (Groombridge.) 

EDUCATIONAL   METHODS. 

Jullien's  Esprit  de   la   Methode  de  1' Education   de  Pestalozzi. 

2  vols. 
•Joseph   Jacotot's  Langue  Maternelle  et  Langue  Etraugere.     2 

vols.      (Paris.) 
*Ered.   Jacotot's    L'Enseignement  universel   mis  u  la  portee  de 

tons  les  peres  de  famillc.      (Paris.) 

•Ascham's  Scholemaster,  J.  B.  Mayor's  edition.    (Bell  &  Daldy.) 
•Prendergast's  Mastery  System.      (Longmans.) 
Nasmith's  Practical  Linguist.      (Nutt.) 
Reading  Disentangled.      (Stanford.) 

Letters   from   Hofwyl  oa   the   Educational   Institutions  of   De 
•    Fcllenberg.      ( Longmans. ) 


LIVES  OF  EMINENT  EDUCATORS. 

•Quick's  Essays  on  Educational  Reformers.      (Longmans.) 

Horace  Mann's  Life.     Boston  (U.  S.) 

•Von  Raumer's  Life  and  System  of  Pestalozzi.     Translated  from 

the  Geschichte  der  Padagogik,  by  J.  Tilleard.     (Longmans.) 

•Life   and  Correspondence   of  Dr.  Arnold.     By  Dean  Stanley. 

(Fdlowes.) 
Life  of  Comenius,  with  his  Essay  on  the  Education  of  Youth 

(Mallalieu.) 
Memoir  of  Bernard  Overberg.     (Seeleys.) 


92  EDUCATIONAL   METHODS. 

HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION. 

*Von  Eaumer's  Geschichte  der  Piidagogik.     4  vols.     (Stuttgart.) 
Carl  Schmidt's  Geschichte  der  Piidagogik.     4  vols. 

Geschichte   der   Erziehuug   imd   des   Uuterrichts. 

(Cothen.) 
Fritz's  Esquisse  d'un  Systeme  complet  d'Instruction  et  d'Educa- 

tion,  et  de  leur  histoire.     3  vols.     (Strassburg.) 
Schmid's  Encyclopadie  des  Erziehungs-  und  Uuterrichtswesens. 
Hergang's  Padagogische  Real-Encvclopadie. 

[We  have  no  works  in  English  corresponding  to  the  above,  nor  any  transla- 
tion of  them.] 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Wiese's  German  Letters  on  English  Education.     Translated  by 

W.  D.  Arnold.      (Longmans.) 
*Pestalozzi's  Leonard  and  Gertrude.     2  vols.     (Maioman.) 

Dr.   Paris' s   Philosophy   in    Sport    made    Science   in   Earnest. 

(Murray.) 
*Miss  Edgeworth's  Harry  and  Lucy  concluded.     (Simpkin.) 

Cousin's  Report  on  the  State  of  Public  Instruction  in  Prussia. 
Translated  by  Mrs.  Austen.  (Effingham  Wilson.) 

Whewell  on  University  Education.     (Parker.) 

Sedgwick  on  the  Studies  of  Cambridge.     (Parker.) 

George  Combe  on  the  Constitution  of  Man.     (Simpkin.) 

J.  S.  Mill's  Inaugural  Lecture  at  the  University  of  St.  Andrews. 
(Longmans.) 

The  Prefaces  to  Professor  De  Morgan's  Treatises  on  Mathematics, 
especially  Algebra.  (Taylor  &  Walton.) 

Quarterly  Journal  of  Education.     10  vols.      (Knight.) 

The  Museum.     8  vols.      (Nelson.) 

Educational  Times,  containing  reports  of  all  the  Lectures  de- 
livered at  the  College  of  Preceptors,  especially  those  pub- 
lished by  order  of  the  Council :  —  (1 .)  On  the  Science  and 
Art  of  Education  and  Educational  Methods,  by  Joseph 
Payne  ;  (2)  On  the  Teaching  of  English,  by  the  Rov.  E.  A. 
Abbott ;  (3)  Classics,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jacob  ;  (4)  Physics, 
by  Professor  Carey  Foster ;  (f>)  Mechanics,  by  Professor 
Adams  ;  (fi)  Botany  and  Geology,  by  J.  M.  Wilson. 

Principles  of  Education,  especially  that  of  Women,  by  M.  A. 
Stodart.  (Seeleys.) 


EDUCATIONAL   METHODS.  93 

Thoughts  on  Self  Culture,  addressed  to  Women,  by  Maria  G. 

Grey  and  her  sister  Emily  Shirreff.  (Parker.) 
•Intellectual  Education,  by  Emily  Shirreff.  (Parker.) 
"The  Education  of  Girls  by  Professor  W.  B.  Hodgson.  (Trub- 

ner.) 

*The  Higher  Education  of  Women,  by  Emily  Davies.     (Strahan.) 
A  Visit   to  some  American  Schools    and   Colleges,  by  Sophia 
Jex  Blake.     (Macmillan.) 


PRINCIPLES 


SCIENCE  OF  EDUCATION 


AS  EXHIBITED  IN  THE  PHENOMENA  ATTENDANT 

ON  THE  UNFOLDING  OF  A  YOUNG  CHILD'S 

POWEBS   UNDER  THE    INFLUENCE   OF 

NATURAL    CIRCUMSTANCES. 


[Printed  for  the  use  of  the  Members  of  Professor  Payne's  Class 
at  the  College  of  Preceptors.] 


[The  education  considered  in  this  paper  is  mainly  that  of  the  Intellect; 
Will  and  Feeling  being  assumed,  and  not  specially  treated. 

The  objects  aimed  at  are,  to  show  —  (1)  That  the  development  of  a 
child's  powers  under  the  influence  of  external  circumstances  constitutes  his 
natural  education ;  (2)  that  formal  education  under  the  professed  teacher  is 
to  continue  and  supplement  natural  education,  and  mutatis  mutandis,  to 
recognize  and  adopt  the  same  agencies,  processes  and  means ;  and  therefore 
(3)  that  the  Art  of  Education  or  Teaching,  in  general,  is  the  practical  ap- 
plication of  the  principles  of  natural  education.] 


PRINCIPLES 

OF 

THE   SCIENCE    OF   EDUCATION. 


I.  GENERAL  PRINCIPLES. 

1 .  Every  child  is  an  organism,  furnished  by  the  Creator  The  child  an 

»  organism. 

with  inherent  capabilities  of  action,  and  surrounded  by  mate- 
rial objects  which  serve  as  stimulants  to  action. 

2.  The  channels  of  communication  between  the  external  Agency  of  the 

....  .,          .  sensory  organs. 

stimulants  and  the*  child  s  inherent  capabilities  of  action  are 
the  sensory  organs,  by  whose  agency  he  receives  impressions. 

3.  These  impressions,  or  sensations,  being  incapable  of  Sensations  the 

.         .  .  .        elements  of 

resolution  into    anything  simpler    than  themselves,  are  the  knowledge, 
fundamental  elements  of  all  knowledge.     The  development 
of  the  mind  begins  with  the  reception  of  sensations. 

4.  The  grouping  of  sensations  forms  perceptions,  which  Sensations  grow 

into  ideas. 

are  registered  in  the  mind  as  conceptions  or  ideas.*  Ihe 
development  of  the  mind,  which  begins  with  the  reception  of 
sensr.tions,  is  canned  onward  by  the  formation  of  ideas. 

5.  The  action  and  reaction  between  the  external  stimulants  Natural 

.     ,,        .    ,  ,  education. 

and  the  mind  s  inherent  powers,  involving  processes  of 
development!  and  implying  growth,  may  be  regarded  as 
constituting  a  system  of  natural  education. 

6.  A  system   of    education  implies — (1)    an    educating  what  i*  involved 
influence,  or  educator ;  (2)  a  being  to  be  educated,  or  learner ;  education?1  ° 
(3)  matter  for  the  exercise  of  the  learner's  powers ;   (4)   a 

method  by  which  the  action  of  these  powers  is  elicited ;  and 
(5)  an  end  to  be  accomplished. 

*  By  "  conception,"  or  "  idea,"  Is  meant  the  trace,  residuum,  or  ideal  substitute 
which  represents  the  real  pcrcoption. 

t  The  term  "  development "  is  In TO  i-mployed  for  that  unfolding  of  the  natural 
powers  of  which  "  growth  "  is  the  registered  result. 


98 


THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 


The  coefficients, 
IMC.-IIIH,  and  ends 
(if  natural 
education. 


The  educator 
learns  from  the 
child  liow  to 
teach  him. 


The  educator's 
function. 


Motives  em- 
ployed by  the 
educator.     The 
most  influential, 
the  satisfaction 
of  the  learner  in 
gaining  knowl- 
edge by  himself. 


The  educator 
purvey* 
materials,  and 
stimulates  the 
child's  mind  to 
work  upon  them. 


What  the  child 
does  himself 
educates  him. 


The  child  a 
learner  who 
teaches  hlnifelf. 

The  child  learns 
by  personal 
experience. 


7.  In  the  case  before  us,  the  educating  influence,  or  educa- 
tor, is  God,  represented  by  Nature,  or  natural  circumstances  ; 
the  being  to  be  educated,  or  learner,  a  child  ;  the  matter,  the 
objects  and  phenomena  of  the  external  world  ;  the  method, 
the  processes  by  which  this  matter  is  brought  into  communi- 
cation with  the  learner's  mind ;  and  the  object  or  end  in 
view,  intellectual  development  and  growth. 

In  view  of  the  different  agencies  concerned  in  effecting  this 
intellectual  education,  and  of  their  mutual  relation,  we  arrive 
at  the  following : 

II.  PRINCIPLES  OF  NATURAL  EDUCATION. 

I.  Nature,  as  an  educator,  recognizes  throughout  all  his 
operations  the  inherent  capabilities  of  the  learner.     The  laws 
of  the  learner's  being  govern  the  educator's  action,  and  de- 
termine what  he    does,  and  what    he  leaves   undone.     He 
ascertains,  as  it  were,  from  the  child  himself  how  to  conduct 
his  education. 

II.  The  natural  educator  is  the  prime  mover  and  director 
of  the  action  and  exercise  in  which  the. learner's  education 
consists. 

III.  The   natural  educator  moves  the  learner's  mind  to 
action  by  exciting  his  interest  in  the  new,  the  wonderful,  the 
beautiful ;  and  maintains  this  action  through  the  pleasure  felt 
by  the  learner  in  the  simple  exercise  of  his  own  powers  —  the 
pleasure  of  developing  and  growing  by  means  of  acts  of  ob- 
serving, experimenting,  discovering,    inventing,  performed 
by  himself  —  of  being  his  own  teacher. 

IV.  The   natural   educator   limits   himself  to   supplying 
materials  suitable  for  the  exercise  of  the  learner's  powers, 
stimulating  these  powers  to  action,  and   maintaining  their 
action.     He  co-operates  with,  but  does  not  supersede,  this 
action. 

V.  The   intellectual    action    and    exercise   in  which  the 
learner's  education  essentially  consists  are  performed  by  him- 
self alone.     It  is  what  he  does  himself,  not  what  is  done  for 
him,  that  educates  him. 

VI.  T*he  child  is  therefore  a  learner  who  educates  himself 
under  the  stimulus  and  direction  of  the  natural  educator. 

VII.  The  learner  educates  himself  by  his  personal  expe- 
rience ;  that  is,  by  the  direct  contact  of  his  mind  at  first  hand 
with  the  matter  —  object  or  fact  —  to  be  learned. 


THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION.  99 

VIII.  The  mind,  in  gaining;  knowledge  for  itself,  proceeds  The  mind 

praowdi  from 

from  the  concrete  to  the  abstract,  from  particular  facts  to  t'10  ">ncretu  to 

the  abstract. 

general  facts,  or  principles ;  and  from  principles  to  laws, 
rules,  and  definitions  ;  and  not  in  the  inverse  order. 

IX.  The  mind,  in  gaining  knowledge  for  itself,  proceeds  The  mind 
from  the  indefinite  to  the  definite,  from  the  compound  to  the  method  of 

,.     .  Investigation. 

simple,  from  complex  aggregates  to  their  component  parts, 
from  the  component  parts  to  their  constituent  elements  —  by 
the  method  of  Investigation.  It  employs  both  Analysis  and 
Synthesis  in  close  connection. 

X.  The  learner's  process  of  self-education  is  conditioned  The  laws  of 
by  certain  laws  of  intellectual  action.     These  are — (1)  the  action. 
Law  of  Consciousness  ;   (2)  of  Attention,  including  that  of 
Individuation,  or  singling  out ;   (3)  of  Relativity,  including 

those  of  Discrimination  and  Similarity  ;  (4)  of  Retentiveness 
including  those  of  Memory  and  Recollection  ;  (5)  of  Associa- 
tion, or  Grouping ;  (6)  of  Reiteration,  or  Repetition,  includ- 
ing that  of  Habit. 

XI.  Memory  is  the  result  of  attention,  and  attention  is  the  Memory  the 

result  of  atten- 

concentration  of  all  the  powers  of  the  mind  on  the  matter  to  tion. 
be  learned.     The  art  of  memory  is  the  art  of  paying  attention. 

XII.  Ideas  gained  by  personal  experience  are  subjected  by  Processes  of 
the  mind  to  certain  processes  of  elaboration  ;  as  classification  elaboration, 
abstraction,  generalization,  judgment,  and  reasoning.    These 
processes  imply  the  possession  of  ideas  gained  by  personal 
experience,  and   they  are    all   performed    by  the  youngest 

child  who  possesses  ideas. 

XIII.  The  learner's  knowledge  consists  in  ideas,  gained  Knowledge 
from  objects  and  facts  by  his  own  powers,  and  consciously  ideas,  not  in 
possessed  —  not  in  tcords.  The  natural  educator,  by  his  action  w 

and  influence,  secures  the  learner's  possession  of  clear  and 
definite  primary  ideas.  Such  ideas,  so  gained,  are  necessarily 
incorporated  with  the  organic  life  of  the  learner's  mind,  and 
become  a  permanent  part  of  his  being. 

XIV.  Words  are  the  conventional  signs,  the  objective  rep-  words  without 
resentatives,  of  ideas,  and  their  value  to  the  learner  depends  k^owi^gJTto 
on  his  previous  possession  of  the  ideas  they  represent.     The  th 

words,  without  the  ideas,  are  not  knowledge  to  him. 

XV.  Personal  experience  is  the  condition  of  development,  The  growth  of 
whether  of  the  body,  mind, 'or  moral  sense.     What  the  child  ZS&SSfih?* 
does  himself,  and  loves  to  do,  forms  his  habits  of  doing ;  but  education!  lf~ 
the  natural  educator,  by  developing  his  powers  and  promoting 


100  Till:    SCIKNCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

their  exercise,  also  guides  him  to  the  formation  of  right 
habits.  He  therefore  encourages  the  physical  development 
which  makes  the  child  healthy  and  robust,  the  intellectual 
development  which  makes  him  thoughtful  and  reasonable,  and 
the  moral  development  which  makes  him  capable  of  appre- 
ciating the  beautiful  and  the  good.  This  threefold  develop- 
mentof  the  child's  powers  tends  to  the  formation  of  his  bodily, 
mental,  and  moral  character,  and  prepares  him  to  recognize 
the  claims  of  religion. 

Definition  of  XVI.    Education  as  a  whole  consists  of  development  and 

training,  and  mav  therefore  be  denned  as  "  the  cultivation  of 

O  *  • 

all  the  native  powers  of  the  child,  by  exercising  them  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  laws  of  his  being  with  a  view  to  develop- 
ment and  growth." 

These  principles      The  above  general  facts  or  principles  being  the  results  of 

constitute  the  .  ' 

Science  of          an  analytical  investigation  into  the  nature  of  the  child  as  a 
Education.         thinking  being,  and  into  the  processes  by  which  his  earliest 

education  is  carried  on,  constitute  the  Science  of  Natural 

Education.. 
Natural  But   as  it  is   the  same   mind  which  is  to   be  cultivated 

Education  the  . 

mod.-!  of  Formal  throughout,  .Natural  Education  is  the  pattern  or  model  of 
Formal  Education,  and  consequently  the  Science  of  Natural 
Education  is  the  Science  of  Education  in  general. 

The  formal  The  formal  educator  or  teacher,  therefore,  who  professes 

therefore™1  to  take  up  and  continue  the  education  begun  by  Nature,  is 
SnTuTpractice1.  to  found  his  scheme  of  action  upon  the  above  principles,  and 
in  supplementing  and  complementing  the  natural  educator's 
work,  he  is  to  proceed  on  the  same  lines.  He  is  not  to  in- 
trude modes  of  action  which  contravene  and  neutralize  the 
principles  of  natural  education. 

III.  THE  ART  OF  EDUCATION. 

£n>*cation  of          1  •    ^r^  *s  ^ne  application  of  the  laws  of  Science  to  a  given 

Science.  subject  under  given  circumstances. 

Art  the  explicit       2.   The  Art  of  Education,  or  Teaching,  is  the  explicit  dis- 

display  of  the 

implicit  pnnci-    p]ay  of  the  implicit  principles  of  the  Science  of  Education. 

plen  of  Science.     J 

The  child  n  3.    The  principles    already  stated  set  the    child  or  pupil 

teac?it-8^1mm;if.  before  us  as  one  who  gains  knowledge  for  himself,  at  tirst 

hand,  by  the  exercise  of  his  own  native    powers,  through 

personal  experience,  and  therefore  as  a  learner  who  teaches 

himself. 


THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION.  101 

4.  This  is  the  central  principle  of  the  Art  of  Teaching.  It  This  central 

principle  a 

serves  as  a  limit  to  define  both  the  functions  of  the  formal  "mit. 
teacher,  and  the  nature  of  the  matter  on  which  the  learner's 
powers  are  first  to  be  exercised  —  that  is,  of  the  subject  of 
instruction. 

5.  The  limit  which  includes  also  excludes  —  it  proscribes  itijm'tsor 

define!*  the 

as  well  as  prescribes.     The  teacher  who  regards  the  child  as  function  ofthe 

educator. 

a  learner  who  is  to  teach  himself  through  personal  experience 
is  therefore  interdicted  from  doing  anything  to  interfere  with 
the  learner's  own  method, —  from  telling,  cramming,  explain- 
ing, and  even  from  correcting,  merely  on  his  own  authority, 
the  learner's  blunders.  The  function  assigned  him  by  the 
Science  of  Education  is  that  of  a  stimulator,  director,  and 
superintendent  of  the  learner's  work,  and  to  that  office  he  is 
to  confine  himself. 

6.  But  the  limit  in  question  determines  also  the  character  it  also  deter- 

.  •    i     ,  i        i  »  *  i        *+      ,    mines  the 

of  the  matter  on  which  the  learner  s  powers  are  to  be  first  nature  of  the 
exercised.     If  he  is  to  teach  himself,  he  can  only  do  so  by  u^nfu  ° 
exercising  his  mind  on  concrete  objects  or  actions  —  on  facts. 
These  furnish  him  with  ideas.     He  cannot  teach  himself  by 
abstractions,  rules,  and    definitions,  packed  up  for  him  in 
words  by  others ;  for  these  do  not  furnish  him  with  ideas  of 

,  his  own.  In  all  that  he  has  to  learn  he  must  begin  with 
facts  —  that  is,  with  personal  experience.  It  is  clear,  then, 
that  the  conception  of  the  learner  as  a  self-teacher  determines 

i  both  the  manner  in  which  he  is  to  be  taught  and  the  means. 

7.  This  notion  of  the  Art  of  Teaching,  which  has  specially  The  ircn. -n.i 
i  in  view  the  period  of  the  child's  life  when  the  formal  teacher  ?«th°t» 

first  takes  him  in  hand,  in  order  to  develop  and  train  his  direc*  kwtrue. 
i  mind,  is  capable  of  general  application.     It  applies  therefore,  t10"' 
'  with  the  requisite  modifications,  to  instruction  properly  so 
i  called,  which  consists  in  the  orderly  and  systematic  building 
j  of  knowledge  into  the  mind,  with  a  definite  object. 

8.  The  teacher,   therefore,  educates  by  instructing,  and 
ji  instructs  by  educating.      Education  and  instruction  are  dif- 
-,  ferent  aspects  of  the  same  process. 

(J.   The  sum  of  what  has  been  laid  down  is,  that  the  Art  of  The  teacher 
Education  consists  in  the  practical  application  of  principles  inrtmeHDofmnd 
iraint'd  by  studying  the  nature,  ofthe  child;  the  central  prin-  •doming.1 
ciple,  which  governs  all  the  rest,  being  that  it  is  what  the  Summary, 
child  does  for  and  by  himself  that  educates  him. 


THE 


TRAINING  AND  EQUIPMENT 


OF  THE 


TEACHER  FOE  HIS  PROFESSION. 

AN  EXAMINATION  OF  CERTAIN  VIEWS  ON  THIS 
SUBJECT    ADVOCATED    AT    THE    EECENT 
CONFEEENCE  HELD  TO  DISCUSS  THE 
REPORT  OF  THE  SCHOOLS  IN- 
QUIRY COMMISSION. 


[Read  at  the  Evening  Meeting  of  the  College  of  Preceptors,  April  14,  1869.] 


"Le  peuple  qul  a  les  meilleures  6coles  est  le  premier  peuple."  —  Jules 
Simon. 

"  Boys  learn  but  little  here  below, 
And  learn  that  little  ill." 

Goldsmith  altered  by  Mr.  Gladstone. 

"  In  no  department  of  human  activity  [as  in  English  Teaching]  is  there 
such  a  pretentious  display  of  power  with  such  a  beggarly  account  of  re- 
sults."—  Professor  Blackie. 


THE 

TRAINING  AND  EQUIPMENT   OF  THE 
TEACHER  FOR  HIS   PROFESSION. 


AMONG  the  various  topics  which  presented  themselves  for  discussion 
at  the  Conference  held  on  the  7th  of  January,  there  was  one  which 
pre-eminently  occupied  the  attention  of  the  meeting.  It  was  that 
of  the  teaching  of  the  teacher :  the  question,  that  is,  whether  any 
special  preparation  was  needed  to  fit  him  for  his  work  ;  and  if  so, 
what  should  he  its  character  and  extent?  Among  the  teachers  who 
took  part  in  the  discussion,  there  appeared  to  be  many  who  were 
directly  opposed  even  to  the  idea  of  such  a  training  ;  while  others, 
sympathizing  generally  with  the  object,  expressed  great  doubts 
respecting  the  possibility  of  attaining  it.  Indeed,  there  was  any- 
thing but  unanimity  on  the  question.  As,  however,  one  more  deeply 
affecting  the  interests  of  education  can  scarcely,  as  I  venture  to 
think,  be  entertained,  it  has  seemed  to  me  and  to  others  that  it 
ought  not  to  be  left  in  its  present  condition  ;  and  hence  the  occa- 
sion of  my  presenting  myself  here  this  evening. 

The  reason  why  the  teaching  of  the  teacher  —  his  complete  equip- 
ment for  his  work  —  is  so  exceedingly  important,  is,  that  the  work 
he  has  individually  and  personally  to  do  is  so  important.  The  exter- 
nal machinery  of  education  —  its  schoolroom,  and  forms,  and  books 
—  has  of  course  its  value  ;  but,  after  all,  it  is  nothing  but  machinery, 
utterly  destitute  in  itself  of  automatic  power.  It  is  dead,  and 
indeed  useless,  until  the  teacher's  vital  influence  pervades  it.  He 
is  the  very  soul  of  the  whole  apparatus  of  means,  and  indeed  the 
only  positively  indispensable  element  in  it.  Hence  it  is  found  that 
the  quantity  of  force  generated  by  a  given  system  of  educational 
means  and  agencies  is,  to  speak  technically,  as  the  teacher's  knowl- 
edge, virtue,  and  intelligence  —  not  as  the  external  machinery.  In 
other  words,  while  the  teacher  may  in  a  great  degree  dispense  with 
the  apparatus,  the  apparatus  can  in  no  degree  dispense  with  him. 
This  vital  connection  between  the  teacher  and  his  work  renders  the 
one,  in  a  certain  respect,  the  measure  of  the  other.  Given  the 


106       TRAINING    AND   EQUIPMENT   OF   THE  TEACHER 

qualifications  of  the  master,  his  conscientiousness,  zeal,  knowledge, 
and  experience,  we  can  with  tolerable  accuracy  predict  what  his 
school  will  be  —  and.  on  the  other  hand,  given  the  school,  we  can 
in  a  great  degree  resolve  its  character  into  that  of  the  master.  This 
general  conviction  of  the  intimate,  even  indissoluble,  connection 
between  the  teacher  and  his  work,  is  expressed  in  the  popular  adage, 
"•  As  is  the  teacher, —  not,  as  is  the  external  machinery  —  so  is  the 
school" — which  of  course  is  convertible  into  the  equivalent  propo- 
sition, "•  As  is  the  school,  so  is  the  teacher ;  "  or,  in  other  words,  the 
school  is  what  the  master  makes  it.  So  far  as  this  proposition  is 
tenable,  it  means,  of  course,  that  the  condition  of  any  given  school 
is  the  test  or  gauge  of  the  master's  efficiency.  If  that  condition  is 
unsatisfactory,  then  the  teacher  is  unsatisfactory  ;  if  good,  the 
teacher's  energy,  devotion,  and  skill  deserve  the  credit.  But, 
whether  good  or  bad,  the  teacher  must  bear  the  responsibility. 
This  remark,  as  well  as  others  I  may  have  to  make  of  the  same 
tenor,  must  be  interpreted  as  having  a  general  application.  There 
may  be  cases  —  there  probably  are  —  in  which  the  circumstances 
are  so  exceptional,  and  the  difficulties  of  such  a  character,  that  the 
teacher  cannot  fairly  be  made  responsible  for  the  result.  These 
exceptions  do  not,  however,  vitiate  the  general  conclusion,  that  the 
teacher,  not  the  machinery  with  which  he  works,  or  the  tools  he 
handles,  must  be  tested  by  the  rule  above  laid  down,  "As  is  the 
teacher,  so  is  the  school."  That  conclusion,  then,  which  may  not 
be  true  when  drawn  from  a  special  case,  must  be  absolutely  true 
when  the  number  of  cases  is  sufficiently  large  to  enable  us  to  ar- 
rive at  a  fair  average.  In  a  general  review  of  a  very  large  number 
of  cases,  the  particular  exceptions  must  be  estimated  on  their  own 
separate  account  and  allowed  for  accordingly  ;  but  their  individual 
merit  or  demerit  cannot  be  regarded  as  vitiating  the  general  con- 
clusion. If,  then,  we  enlarge  the  field  of  observation  so  as  tj  em- 
brace all  the  schools  of  any  particular  nation,  we  have  a  right  to 
say  that  the  results  of  its  formal  education  are  the  index  or  measure 
of  the  efficiency  of  its  teaching.  Applying  this  argument  to  the 
case  of  England,  for  instance  —  if  we  find  a  thoroughly  well  instruc- 
ted and  educated  people,  we  ought  to  conclude  that  the  training 
which  has  made  them  so  is  satisfactory ;  and,  therefore,  that  the 
teachers  who  have  conducted  the  training  must  have  been  thoroughly 
competent  in  all  respects.  They  must  have  been  men  of  high  in- 
telligence to  begin  with ;  they  must  have  been  extremely  well 
instructed  in  the  subjects  they  have  taught ;  they  must  have  employ- 
ed the  best  methods,  and  they  must  have  been  conscientious,  pains- 


FOR   HIS   PROFESSION.  107 

taking,  zealous,  and  industrious.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  should 
be  found  that  we  are  not  a  generally  well  instructed  and  educated 
people  —  and  no  one  that  examines  into  the  facts,  or  even  trusts 
to  common  observation,  will  maintain  that  we  are — then,  by  the 
argument  I  have  adopted,  we  are  compelled  to  make  the  teachers  of 
England  generally  responsible,  for  the  failure.  English  pupils,  as 
a  rule,  are  capable  of  instruction,  they  are  not  more  stupid  and 
impracticable  than  those  of  other  nations  ;  the  external  machinery 
of  education  in  our  universities,  colleges,  and  schools,  whether  of 
secondary  or  primary  instruction,  is  not  singularly  deficient  in  quali- 
ty or  quantity ;  funds  for  working  that  machinery  are  in  gen  ml 
adequately  supplied ;  and  yet,  in  spite  of  all  this  costly  apparatus, 
in  spite  of  the  assumed  sufficient  abilities  of  the  pupils,  the  results 
are  most  unsatisfactory.  The  various  commissions  which  have  been 
appointed  of  late  years  to  inquire  into  our  different  kinds  of  educa- 
tion —  from  the  Universities  down  to  the  dame-schools  —  have  told 
us  what  these  results  are  ;  and,  in  doing  so,  have  pronounced  a 
verdict  of  "  failure  "  on  them  all.*  The  working  of  the  machinery 
in  each  of  the  four  great  departments  of  instruction  has  been  proved 
to  be  immensely  below  its  theoretical  power.  It  would  be  quite 

*  Universities  and  Public  School*.  The  testimony  of  several  distinguished  public  tutors 
and  examiners  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  is  (as  shown  in  the  Report  on  Public  Schools)  that 
the  average  of  youths  entering  the  Universities  from  Public  School*  are  "  badly  grounded," 
—  are,  "  in  knowledge,  absolute  ignoramuses," —  "  have  everything  to  learn,  and  little  desire 
to  learn  anything,"  —  "  have  few  intellectual  tastes,"  —  have  "  very  unawakened  minds,  and 
habit*  of  mental  indolence  and  inaccuracy," —  require  "  their  shortcomings  to  be  supplemented" 
by  the  University  teaching,  which  is  therefore  "  hampered  "  by  interference  with  its  own  proper 
work, —  evince  "surprising  ignorance"  on  points  not  strictly  academical, —  are  "deplorably 
ignorant  of  English  literature,  English  history,  and  English  composition," — "  read  worse  than 
the  majority  of  pupil  teachers  in  elementary  schools,"  and  often  spell  notoriously  ill. 

Lord  Clarendon,  too,  spoke  severely,  during  the  examination  of  Dr.  Balston,  of  everything 
in  the  way  of  general  knowledge  being  given  up  at  Eton  in  order  that  Classics  might  have  all 
the  time,  and  yet  that  boys  went  up  to  Oxford,  "  not  only  not  proficient,  but  in  a  lamentable 
state  of  deficiency  with  respect  to  the  Classics."  Mr.  Gladstone  moreover  testifies  that  "the 
amount  of  work  which  we  get  out  of  the  boys  at  our  public  schools,  speaking  of  the  mass  of 
them,  is  scandalously  small." 

These  quotations  have  a  significance  in  two  directions.  They  indicate  the  necessary  failure 
of  the  University  course  for  which  such  results  arc  a  preparation ;  and,  by  the  argument  a 
fortiori,  they  measure  the  quality  of  middle  class  teaching,  inasmuch  as  It  is  assumed,  and 
indeed  was  not  long  ago  asserted  by  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  that  the  teaching  of  the  public 
schools  Is  the  best  that  can  be  found. 

Mi'ldle  Class  Schools.  See  Chap.  II.  of  the  Schools  Inquiry  Commission's  Report,  pas- 
sim; and  also  Dr.  Gull's,  Dr.  Acland's,  and  Mr.  Paget's  evidence. 

Primary  Schools.  See  a  Letter  In  the  "Times,"  July  !.">,  isr,7,  by  Canon  Govcr,  whose 
statistics  supply  evidence  that  94  out  of  every  100  of  the  people  are  furnished  with  an  educa- 
tional equipment  which  consists  onJy  of  the  barest  rudiments  of  instruction;  so  bare  indeed, 
as  to  be  almost  useless.  Pee  a  discussion  of  this  point  in  an  article  on  "  Eton  "  by  the  lecturer 
in  the  "  British  Quartcly  Review  "  for  Jan.  1868. 


108        TRAINING    AND   EQUIPMENT    OF    THE   TEACHER 

impossible,  within  the  narrow  limits  of  one  lecture,  to  cuter  on  a 
formal  proof  of  this  assertion,  nor  is  it  necessary  for  my  present 
purpose  to  attempt  it.  I  can  only  refer  those  who  have  auy  doubts 
on  the  subject,  to  the  admirable  Reports  of  the  Commissioners, 
ami  the  evidence  on  which  they  are  founded  —  the  evidence  being 
often  more  truly  instructive  than  the  Reports  themselves  —  to  the 
testimony  of  foreign  reporters  on  the  same  subject,  and  to  general 
experience  and  observation  —  all  of  which,  with  a  combined  force 
which  is  irresistible,  support  the  general  proposition,  that  in  our 
Universities,  Public  Schools,  Middle-class  and  elementary  schools, 
the  general  results  of  our  teaching  are  deplorable.  Leaving,  how- 
ever, out  of  consideration  three  out  of  these  four  main  departments 
of  instruction,  I  will  confine  myself  to  that  of  middle  class  educa- 
tion, concerning  which  the  opinion  of  those  who  are  competent  to 
form  one  is  all  but  unanimous.  With  one  voice  then,  competent 
judges — educated  men,  politicians  and  philanthropists  —  declare 
that  the  middle  classes  of  England  do  not  generally  get  a  good 
education  in  any  sense  of  the  term.  We  all  know  —  English  society 
everywhere  knows  —  that  the  great  bulk  of  the  men  about  us 
—  pupils  of  the  system  —  are  not  cultivated,  are  indeed  indifferent 
to  cultivation,  are  unacquainted  with  the  fundamental  principles  of 
literature  and  science,  do  not  read  works  requiring  thought  and 
study,  despise  those  who  do,  are  in  fact  unpermeated  by  the 
"sweetness  and  light"  on  which  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold  has  dis- 
coursed so  pleasantly.  These  men  are,  however,  the  living  result 
of  middle-class  education.  Can  they  have  received  a  really  good 
education,  who,  for  the  most  part,  do  not  appreciate  education,  who 
not  unfrequently  treat  both  the  educator  and  his  work  with  half- 
concealed  contempt?  Without,  however,  dwelling  longer  on  gener- 
al statements,  every  one  of  which  may  no  doubt  be  opposed  by  the 
citation  of  special  exceptions — which,  however,  do  not,  as  I  have 
shown  before,  affect  the  average  —  I  will  quote  here  a  passage  from 
the  Athenaeum  of  March  27  last,  which  well  deserves  to  be  read, 
marked,  learned,  and  inwardly  digested,  both  by  teachers  and  the 
public.  It  is  this  :  —  "A  petition  was  last  week  presented  to  the 
House  of  Commons  from  the  Council  of  Medical  Education,  stating 
that  the  maintenance  of  a  sufficient  medical  education  is  very  diffi- 
cult, owing  to  the  defective  education  given  in  middle-class  schools. 
A  similar  complaint  was  made  in  a  petition  from  the  British  Medi- 
cal Association,  numbering  4000  members.  In  a  third  petition, 
proceeding  from  the  University  of  London,  it  was  stated,  that 
during  the  last  ten  years  40  per  cent,  of  the  candidates  at  the  Ma- 


FOR   HIS   PROFESSION.  109 

triculation  examinations  have  failed  to  satisfy  the  examiners." 
N<>\v,  what  reply  can  be  made  to  a  statement  like  this?  Will  it 
still  be  maintained  that  the  view  that  I  have  taken  of  the  general 
results  of  middle-class  teaching  is  erroneous  ?  But  if  the  test  al- 
ready adduced  —  ' '  As  is  the  teacher,  so  is  the  school  "  —  is  worth 
anything,  we  must  surely  apply  it  here.  If  the  education  of  middle- 
class  schools  is  so  defective  that  it  cannot  be  employed  as  the  basis 
on  which  to  found  the  scientific  education  necessary  for  the  medi- 
cal profession,  on  whom  can  the  blame  be  cast?  Who  are  respon- 
sible for  the  results  of  middle-class  education  but  middle-class 
teachers  ?  If  they  all  entered  on  their  work,  equipped  with  accurate 
knowledge,  cultivated  intelligence,  trained  skill  in  teaching,  and  a 
high  appreciation  of  the  grave  importance  of  their  functions,  cbuld 
such  a  complaint  as  the  above  be  possible  ? 

But  though  the  teachers  must  be  charged  with  being  the  proxi- 
mate cause  of  the  failure,  of  our  education,  it  may  justly  be  re- 
marked that  they  are  themselves,  to  a  large  extent  —  not  large 
enough,  however,  to  acquit  them  of  their  own  obligations  —  the 
effect  of  another  cause,  to  which  I  will  briefly  call  your  attention. 
That  cause  is  the  profound  indifference  of  the  public  mind  to  the 
value  and  power  of  education.  This  indifference  is  itself  an  effect, 
as  well  as  a  cause,  of  the  state  of  things  in  question.  It  is  first 
an  effect  or  product  of  the  unsatisfactory  teaching  complained  of. 
The  public  mind  has  been  positively  disqualified  for  fairly  estimat- 
ing anything  better  by  having  been  persistently  drilled  and  indoc- 
trinated in  what  is  proved  to  be  bad.  As  well  may  you  expect  a 
blind  man  to  take  delight  in  pleasant  sights,  and  a  deaf  man  in 
pleasant  sounds,  as  an  uneducated  public  mind  to  appreciate  cul- 
ture. It  does  not  know  what  you  mean,  when  you  urge  the  claims 
of  education  as  a  civilizing  agent,  and  insist  upon  the  immense 
value  to  the  commonwealth  of  the  accomplished  teacher.  It 
scarcely  comprehends  the  idea  of  an  accomplished  teacher,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  that  of  any  other  man,  accomplished  or  not, 
who  calls  himself  by  the  same  name.  Hence  that  very  indifference 
and  apathy,  which  is  the  result  of  inefficient  teaching,  becomes  in 
its  turn  a  cause,  and  a  very  powerful  one  too,  of  the  maintenance 
of  things  as  they  are.  But  this  general  indifference  as  to  the 
quality  of  education  leads,  by  an  easy  step,  to  a  non-appreciation 
of  the  profession  of  the  educator.  Society  has  taken  note  of  the 
fact,  that  hitherto  the  members  of  that  profession  have  shown  little 
anxiety  or  care  that  those  who  enter  it  should  be  well  qualified 
men ;  have  indeed  practically  acquiesced  in  the  assumption  that 


110       TRAINING   AND   EQUIPMENT   OF   THE   TEACHER 

any  man  could  declare  himself  a  teacher,  and  has  therefore  taken 
the  teacher  at  his  own  low  estimate  of  himself,  and  treated  him 
accordingly.  There  cannot  be  a  clearer  proof  of  the  general  truth 
of  this  observation  than  the  fact,  that  the  governments  of  our 
country,  whether  Liberal  or  Conservative,  have,  without  any  ex- 
ception that  I  am  aware  of,  treated  with  contemptuous  indifference 
the  notion  that  educators,  as  such,  however  highly  qualified  by 
knowledge  of  the  theory,  and  by  dearly  bought  experience  in  the 
practice  of  their  profession,  have  any  special  authority  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  educational  matters.  Their  opinions  and  advice,  if 
listened  to  at  all,  are  placed  on  exactly  the  same  footing  as  those 
of  persons  having  neither  their  knowledge  nor  their  experience ; 
and*  the  world  has  seen  with  wonder  commissions  on  education, 
appointed  one  after  another,  from  which,  as  if  by  preconcerted 
ingenuity,  the  names  of  practical  schoolmasters  and  of  educators  by 
profession  have  been  carefully  excluded.*  What  a  pregnant  com- 
mentary on  the  popular  estimate  of  the  value  of  education  in  this 
country  !  Imagine  the  parallel  case  of  commissions  on  engineer- 
ing, architecture,  medicine,  law,  or  church  matters,  appointed  to 
investigate  the  actual  condition  of  these  faculties,  to  ascertain  the 
causes  of  their  failure  in  certain  respects,  and  to  devise  measures 
for  their  improvement,  in  which  the  names  of  the  most  eminent 
engineers,  architects,  physicians,  lawyers,  and  divines  should  be 
conspicuous  only  by  their  absence.  In  thus  acting,  the  govern- 
ments in  question  have,  it  is  true,  only,  as  they  were  well  aware, 
reflected  the  popular  estimate  of  the  real  value  of  the  educator : 
but  then,  what  must  have  been  the  image  which  could  be  thus 
reflected?  The  same  thing  will  be  done  again  in  the  constitution 
of  the  new  Educational  Council,  under  Mr.  Forster's  Bill,  if  the 
schoolmasters  of  England  are  weak  enough  to  permit  it.  If 
there  were,  indeed,  a  profession  of  teaching,  united  by  the  com- 
mon interests  of  education,  instead  of  a  merely  mechanical  aggre- 
gation of  jarring  and  even  opposing  elements,  which  assumes  the 
name  without  any  of  the  power  of  a  united  body,  education  would 
certainly  be  represented  in  the  Educational  Council.  As  things 
are,  there  is  anything  but  a  certainty  that  it  will.  When,  however, 
it  shall  be  brought  about  that  accomplished  teachers  are  known  to 
be  men  possessed  of  knowledge  of  a  special  kind,  and  furnished 
with  credentials  of  unquestionable  authority,  which  distinguish 

*  The  single  exception  is  Dr.  Temple,  who  was  appointed  on  the-  Schools  Inquiry  Com- 
mission. 


FOB   HIS   PROFESSION.  Ill 

them  from  those  who,  as  things  now  are,  without  special  qualifica- 
tions of  any  kind,  not  even  genuine  interest  in  their  work,  assume, 
but  do  not  dignify,  the  honorable  name  of  educator  which  they 
bear,  we  shall  be  advancing  on  the  road  which  will  at  last  lead  to 
the  establishment  of  the  profession  of  education.  We  are,  how- 
ever, far  enough  from  that  consummation  at  present.  Additional 
instances  might  easily  be  quoted  to  illustrate  the  general  proposi- 
tion, that  public  opinion  in  England  does  not  appreciate  the  teacher 
or  his  work  ;  but  the  illustrations  I  have  given  must  for  the  present 
suflice,  —  especially  as  I  have  still  to  bring  forward  another  aspect 
of  the  subject  very  intimately  connected  with  the  end  I  have  in 
view.  I  am  fully  prepared  for  the  opposition  which  the  statements 
I  am  about  to  make  will  excite  in  the  minds  of  some  teachers  ; 
but  it  would  betoken  an  abject  and  craven  spirit  in  me  to  withhold 
them  on  that  account,  conscious  as  I  am  that  I  have  no  interest 
but  theiis  at  heart.  I  therefore  venture  to  affirm  that  the  great 
body  of  teachers  are  themselves  responsible  for  the  popular  esti- 
mate which  has  been  formed  of  their  profession.  We  all  remem- 
ber the  pregnant  words  which  tell  us  that  in  certain  circumstances 
"  a  man's  enemies  are  the  men  of  his  own  house."  I  cannot  but 
think  that  these  words  are  strictly  applicable  to  the  case  before 
us.  Surely  there  is  no  injustice  in  saying  that  those  teachers  who 
express  themselves  as  "satisfied"  with  the  present  miserable  con- 
dition of  education  amongst  us,  —  who  deride  every  attempt  made 
to  prepare  the  teacher  for  his  work  as  unnecessary  and  absurd,  — 
who  characterize  discussions  on  methods  of  teaching  as  "  stuff," — 
who  stigmatize  the  science  of  education  as  "quackery," — are 
among  the  direst  enemies  to  the  cause  of  education. 

If  time  permitted  I  would  refer  to  many  conclusive  evidences  of 
the  truth  of  my  position,  that  English  teachers  in  general  take  but 
little  concern  in  education  for  its  own  sake.  I  must,  however, 
mention,  as  briefly  as  I  can,  one  or  two.  How  is  it,  I  would  in- 
quire, if  my  views  on  this  point  are  wrong,  that  it  has  never  been 
possible  in  England  to  establish  a  journal  of  education?  The 
attempt  has  frequently  been  made,  but  has  never  succeeded,  while 
such  journals  may  be  counted  by  dozens  in  Germany  and  America , 
and  are  numerous  in  France  and  Switzerland  ?  Does  this  fact 
show  much  interest  in  education  on  the  part  of  English  teachers? 
How  is  it,  again,  that  lectures  on  methods  of  teaching,  delivered 
in  this  very  room  by  men  of  great  knowledge  and  experience,  open 
to  teachers  without  cost,  are  attended  by  an  average  of  half  a 
dozen  teachers  out  of  the  hundreds  of  London?  How  is  it  that 


T11A1N1NG   AND  EQUIPMENT   OF   THE   TEACH  KU 

this  College  of  Preceptors,  disinterestedly  founded  by  men  whose 
sole  aim  was  the  advancement  of  the  interests  of  Education,  has 
been,  and  is,  comparatively  feebly  supported?  And  finally,  how 
is  it  that  works  on  Education,  both  as  an  art  and  as  a  science, 
which  are  produced  in  numbers  in  Germany  and  America  to 
supply  a  recognized  want,  are  here  invariably  published  at  a  loss 
to  the  author?  Are  these  instances,  which  might  easily  be  multi- 
plied, proofs  of  interest  in  the  cause  of  Education,  or  of  indifference 
to  it?  I  pause  not  for  a  reply,  but  proceed  to  inquire  how  it  hap- 
pens, if  the  training  of  the  teacher  is  a  matter  of  so  little  concern 
in  England,  that  nations  quite  as  competent  as  we  are  to  estimate 
the  value  of  such  training,  come  to  so  entirely  different  a  conclusion  ? 
Are  we  to  impugn  the  intelligence  —  nay,  even  the  common  sense, 
of  France  and  Germany,  for  instance,  in  taking  so  much  pains  to 
accomplish  an  object  which  we  in  England  regard  with  supreme 
indifference,  if  not  with  contempt  and  disgust?  Is  there  anything 
in  our  climate,  national  habits,  or  natural  endowments,  which 
warrants  us  in  dispensing  with  a  machinery  of  means  which  has 
accomplished  so  much  for  Frenchmen  and  Germans? 

I  do  not  suppose  that  anybody  really  acquainted  with  the  subject 
will  attempt  to  reply  to  these  questions  affirmatively,  and,  in  doing 
so,  confront  either  the  actual  persons,  or  the  spirit  which  still  lives 
in  their  works,  of  such  men  as  Silvestre  de  Sacy,  Royer-Collard, 
Georges  Cuvier,  Poisson,  Victor  Cousin,  Guizot,  Vatismenil,  For- 
toul,  Prevost  Paradol,  Jules  Simon,  Michelet,  and  the  present  ac- 
complished Minister  of  Instruction,  M.  Duruy,  all  of  whom  have 
been  either  constructors  or  products  of  the  training  system  of 
France,  and  an  equal,  if  not  superior,  array  of  distinguished  men 
in  Germany,  whose  names  I  have  no  time  to  quote.  Pupils  of  the 
Ecole  Normale,  too,  whose  first  year's  course  in  Mathematics,  for 
instance,  requires  a  good  knowledge  of  the  differential  and  integral 
cnlculus,  with  an  equivalent  advance  in  other  studies,  and  German 
students  of  poedagogy,  who,  on  leaving  school,  and  before  begin- 
ning their  special  course,  have  passed  a  far  harder  examination 
than  that  appointed  for  graduates  in  our  Universities  —  even  these 
pupils,  to  say  nothing  of  their  masters,  might  possibly  be  found 
rather  formidable  antagonists.  But  I  am  reminded  that  a  veritable 
authority  in  education,  a  practical  teacher  of  considerable  eminence, 
I  mean  Dr.  Benson  of  Wellington  College,  has  personally  inquired 
into  the  German  system  of  teacher-training,  and  has  pronounced 
against  it.  A  letter  from  him,  you  will  remember,  was  quoted  by 
Mr.  Walter  in  the  course  of  the  discussion  on  Mr  Forster's  Bill, 


FOR   HIS   PROFESSION.  113 

and  it  may,  perhaps,  relieve  the  tedium  of  my  arguments  and  illus- 
trations if  we  direct  our  attention,  for  a  few  minutes,  to  its  con- 
tents. It  contained  a  statement  of  facts,  as  well  as  certain  opinions 
founded  on  Dr.  Benson's  own  experience.  Its  statement  was, 
that  Dr.  Benson,  being  once  at  Berlin,  was  present  at  the  trial 
lesson  of  a  young  candidate  for  the  facultas  docendi,  or  final 
diploma  in  education,  given  at  an  advanced  Gymnasium  of  that 
city.  It  appears  from  the  account,  that  the  juvenile  doctor,  for 
he  was  already  a  high  graduate  —  perhaps  fluttered  somewhat  by 
the  presence  of  the  English  doctor,  who  was  keenly  looking  after 
him — "did  very  badly,"  but  nevertheless  got  a  first-class  certifi- 
cate. Dr.  Benson,  being  grieved  at  the  occurrence,  spoke  to  the 
professor  in  charge  about  it.  That  gentleman,  evidently  much 
fluttered  too,  got  out  of  the  embarrassment  into  which  our  Doctor 
had  forced  him  as  well  as  he  could,  muttered  something  about  the 
test  being  necessarily  formal,  and  ended  by  saying  that  it  would 
be  better  dispensed  with.  The  story  would,  perhaps,  be  more  to 
the  point  if  we  knew  how  far  Dr.  Benson's  knowledge  of  German 
enabled  him  to  judge  of  the  candidate's  failure  ;  as,  after  all,  it  is 
conceivable  that  he  did  not  do  "  very  badly,"  even  though  Dr. 
Benson  fancied  that  he  did.  Again,  the  expression  "•  he  did  very 
badly,"  is  very  vague.  Was  it  ignorance  of  the  subject  of  the 
lesson,  or  want  of  nerve,  or  positive  incompetency  in  handling  the 
class  as  a  whole?  On  these  points  we  remain  uninformed.  How- 
ever, valeat  quantum — one  example  proves  nothing  against  a  com- 
prehensive system.  Would  Dr.  Benson  like  the  Wellington  College 
system  of  education  to  be  decided  on  by  a  German  professor,  from 
the  exhibition  made  by  one*  boy  at  one  examination?  If  Dr. 
Benson  had  kept  silence  on  this  subject,  we  might  have  credited 
him  with  the  possession  of  many  stronger  facts  against  the  German 
system  than  this  which  he  has  brought  forward.  Those  who  con- 
sider it  decisive  against  the  system,  are  of  course  at  liberty  to 
think  so ;  but  those  who  know  how  numerous  are  the  tests  to 
which  the  pupil-teacher  in  Germany  is  subjected  throughout  the 
whole  course  of  his  three  years'  training,  will  not  be  of  that 
opinion.  But  while  Dr.  Benson  is  in  the  box,  I  will  take  the  lib- 
erty of  examining  him  a  little  in  his  turn  on  another  part  of  his 
letter.  He  is  a  strenuous  witness  in  the  case  of  Chaos  versus 
Kosmos,  and  we  will  venture  to  ask  him  a  few  questions.  He 
wishes  to  show  that  an  examination  on  paper  —  an  explanation  of 
actions  in  words  —  does  not  supersede  the  experience  which  is  to 
be  gained  by  the  actions  of  themselves  —  as  if  any  one  ever  pre- 


114        TRAINING   AND    EQUIPMENT   OF   THE   TEACHER 

tended  that  it  did ;  and  he  goes  on  to  tell  us  that  the  weakest 
master  he  ever  knew  was  a  man  who  would  have  been  able  to  give 
on  paper  the  best  description  of  the  means  by  which  the  difficul- 
ties of  managing  a  form  of  boys  were  to  be  met ;  whereas,  iu  pres- 
ence of  the  actual  difficulties  themselves,  his  knowledge  of  theory 
would  have  failed  to  give  him  any  aid  ;  and  therefore,  argues  Dr. 
Benson,  it  is  of  no  use  to  attempt  to  prepare  teachers  for  the 
work  they  undertake.     "We  may  fairly  inquire,  however,  whether 
this  weakest  of   teachers  would  have  been  any  stronger  without 
the  theoretical  knowledge  than  he  was  with  it ;  and  whether  if,  in 
addition  to  this  knowledge,  he  had  been  thoroughly  practised  in 
witnessing  how  other  teachers  overcame  similar  difficulties — for 
that  is  an  essential  part  of  the  German  system  —  he  might  not 
have  been  better  prepared  to  meet  the  difficulties  which  confronted 
him  in  his  own  experience.     Here  too,  we  want  to  know  all  the 
circumstances  of  the  case  before  we  can  implicitly  receive  Dr. 
Benson's   evidently  prejudiced  testimony.     But   he   goes   on   to 
assure  us  that  "only  experience  can  prove  whether  a  man  can 
teach  or  not "  —  and  that  "  probably  a  period  of  not  less  than  two 
years  would  be  required  to  ascertain  this  point ;  "  and  therefore — 
for  this  is  the  gist  of  the  argument  —  that  any  attempt  to  shorten 
the  period  of  trial  for  himself  and  his  pupils  (who  by  the  hypoth- 
esis must  all  the  time  be  very  much  tried  too)  is  useless,  and 
indeed  absurd.     This  argument  has,  I  believe,  some  weight  with 
opponents  of  training.     Let  us  consider  it  for  a  moment.     Stripped 
of  useless  words,  it  amounts  to  this,  tliat  as  you  cannot  learn  to 
swim  before  you  go  into  the  water,  all  exercises  or  training  which 
assume  that  you  can  is  of  the  essence  of  quackery.     I  do  not  deny 
that  there  is  some  truth  mingled  with  the  error  which  pervades  this 
argument.     It  is  true  enough  that  you  cannot  by  any  preconcerted 
arrangements  or  contrivances  anticipate  all  the  practical  lessons 
of  life  ;  but  then  this  only  means  that  you  cannot  live  to-morrow 
until  to-morrow  comes.     Is  this  truism  generally  admitted  as  a 
reason  for  utterly  neglecting  to  prepare  children  for  the  business 
of  life  ?    Because  it  is  true  that  in  one  sense  we  can  only  learn  to  live 
by  living,  do  we  allow  our  children  to  grow  up  in  perfect  ignorance 
of   what  is  before  them?     Surely  there  is  some  fallacy  in  this 
treatment  of  the  question,  which  obviously  assumes  that  those' 
who,  like  the  PVeneh,  Germans,  and  Borne  Englishmen,  insist  on 
the  value  of  training,  deny  the  value  of  experience  altogether. 
Those  who  take  this  ground  forget  that  the  opportunity  for  experi- 
ence is  a  common  factor  which  stands  on  both  sides  of  the  equa- 


FOR   HIS   PROFESSION.  115 

tion.     The  trained  and  the  untrained  teacher  must  alike  learu  the 
lessons  of  experience  ;  but  to  which  of  the  two,  I  would  ask,  are 
those   lessons  likely  to  prove  most  valuable?     If    the  previous 
training  practically  abridged  the  period  of  probation  by  one-half 
or  three-fourths,  as  it  probably  would,   is  this  no  gain  to  the 
teacher  himself,  and  especially  to  his  pupils,  who  all  the  time 
that  their  teacher  is  teaching  himself  at  their  expense,  are  mani- 
festly, to  some  extent,  defrauded  of  the  instruction  which  is  their 
due?     Supposing,  however  —  and  it  is  a  supposition  which  may 
possibly  be  very  near  the  truth  —  that  on  the  average,  the  masters 
of  Wellington  College,  or  any  similar  institution,  do  not  stay  there 
even  so  long  as  two  years,  are  we  to  congratulate  the  Head  Master 
on  the  cleverness  of  the  arrangement,  which  places  his  pupils 
under  a  constant  succession  of  raw  recruits?     Is  this  really  the 
best  possible  way  of  supplying  our  Colleges  and  Schools  with  su- 
perior masters  ?     We  decline,  however,  on  the  whole,  to  accept 
either  Dr.  Benson's  facts  or  his  arguments  as  decisive  against  the 
judgment  and  experience  of  the  eminent  men  of  France  and  Ger- 
many, who,  honoring  the  profession  of  the  teacher,  and  having 
regard  to  the  importance  of  his  functions  to  the  commonwealth, 
have  concerted  an  admirable  machinery  of  means,  on  which  no 
pains  nor  expense  is  spared,  for  equipping  him  worthily  for  his 
career.     I  can  only  very  briefly  refer  to  the  machinery  devised  for 
accomplishing  this  purpose.     In  France,  the  Ecole  Normale  Superi- 
eure   is  destined  to  the  training  of  the  highest  professors  and 
public  teachers ;  but  there  are  many  other  Normal  Schools  for 
candidates  of  lower  pretensions.     In  the  former,  the  pupil  must 
pass  an  entrance  competitive  examination,  under  the  stringency  of 
which  most  of  our  University  passmen  would  certainly  succumb 
—  and,  indeed,  they  must  be  Bachelors  in  Arts  or  Science  before 
they  can  compete  at  all.     The  successful  candidate  is  then  for 
three  years  carried  through  courses  of  either  literature  or  science, 
at  his  choice  ;  and  during  the  last  year  especially,  is  required  to 
attend  lectures  on  pedagog}',  including   "method,"  and  to  visit 
daily  the  superior  lyctes  of  Paris,  to  observe  and  take  notes  of  tho 
routine  -of  teaching,  and  to  teach   occasionally  himself.     He  ia 
finally  examined  on  the  subjets  which  he  has  been  studying,  r.nd 
required  to  give  lessons,  as  if  to  a  class,  in  several  of  thorn,  in  tli2 
presence  of  competent  judges  of  teaching.     The  result  is  thus 
concisely  stated  in  the  Schools  Inquiry  Commission  Keport :  — 
"The  Normal  School  at  Paris  is  the  pivot  of  their  whole  ma- 
chinery.    Filled  by  open  competition  with  the  pick  of  the  French 


116        TRAINING   AND   EQUIPMENT   OF   THE   TEACHElt 

youth,  officered  by  the  very  best  professors  that  can  be  found,  it 
annually  supplies  the  French  schools  with  teachers  not  surpassed 
in  the  world,  (p.  612.)  This  is  one  of  the  systems  of  teacher- 
supply  which  is  to  be  set  against  our  own  raw-recruit  system. 
But  I  turn  for  a  moment  to  German}',  where  the  object  in  view  is 
not  less  highly  estimated,  nor  the  means  for  securing  it,  though 
quite  different,  less  stringent.  There  is  no  Ecole  Normale  Superi- 
eure  in  Germany,  but  the  career  of  instruction  and  training  for 
the  teacher  is  equally  defined  and  prescribed.  The  German 
authorities  are  quite  as  firmly  resolved  as  those  of  France,  to  be 
assured  that  the  man  who  proposes  to  undertake  the  functions  of 
a  teacher  shall  be  as  thoroughly  prepared  for  his  career  as  human 
ingenuity  and  forethought  can  make  him.  The  severest  tests  are 
therefore  applied  to  ascertain,  in  the  first  place,  his  knowledge  of 
the  subjects  which  he  will  have  to  teach.  In  the  next  place,  he 
has  to  attend  lectures  on  the  principles  and  practice  of  the  art  of 
teaching ;  thirdly,  he  has  to  show  his  fitness  fur  teaching  by  re- 
peatedly teaching  in  the  presence  of  experts  appointed  to  hear 
him,  from  whom  he  receives  a  certificate  graduated  according  to 
his  success  in  passing  these  tests  ;  and  lastly,  he  is  required,  after 
his  course  of  special  instruction  is  over,  to  pass  a  year,  as  a  pro- 
bationer, at  some  approved  school,  sometimes  of  a  higher  class 
than  that  which  he  is  himself  preparing  for,  in  order  that  he  may 
know  what  the  highest  instruction  is.  During  this  last  year  he  is 
directed  to  watch  the  work  of  the  school,  learn  how  it  is  done,  and 
occasionally,  by  way  of  practice,  take  a  share  in  it.  After  this 
elaborate  course  of  preparation,  he  gains  his  certificate  —  his  un- 
conditional facultas  docendi,  or  leave  to  teach.  Here  again,  if  our 
raw-recruit  system  is  compared  with  that  of  cultivated  Germany, 
what  must  be  in  the  mind  of  any  rational  investigator  the  inevit- 
able result  ?  Is  there  not  a  necessary  connection  between  cause 
and  effect  —  and  can  any  one  now  seriously  dispute  my  main  posi- 
tion, that,  the  teacher  and  the  school  being  criteria  or  measures 
the  one  of  the  other,  teachers  who  have  been  trained  according  to 
either  of  the  above  systems  must  be  better  qualified  than  those  not 
trained  at  all  ?  Is  it  not  ct  priori  probable  that  the  work  they  have 
to  do  will  be  more  satisfactory?  If  it  were  not,  it  would  argue  a 
remarkable  degree  of  stolidity  In  the  devisers  of  the  machinery, 
and  in  the  teachers  who  are  the  results  of  it.  No  one,  however, 
who  really  examines  into  the  facts,  can  doubt  that  improved  results 
in  the  pupils  invariably  follow  improvement  in  the  preparation  of 
the  teacher ;  —  and  hence  I  am  compelled  to  reassert  the  proposi- 


FOR   HIS   PROFESSION.  117 

tiou,  that  the  results  of  teaching  bear  a  direct  ratio  to  the  virtue, 
intelligence,  knowledge  and  skill  of  the  teacher  ;  that  if  we  take 
no  pains  to  secure  the  possession  of  these  qualifications  in  the 
teacher,  we  have  no  right  to  expect  the  fruits  of  them  in  the 
pupils  ;  and,  finally,  to  maintain  that  the  present  condition  of 
Middle  Class  education  amongst  us,  unsatisfactory  as  by  universal, 
consent  it  is,  is  in  a  great  measure  the  consequence  of  the  insuffi- 
cient training  of  the  teachers.  It  will  have  been  observed  that 
many  of  the  arguments  of  my  opponents  —  if  I  must  thus  designate 
them  —  have  been  casually  dealt  with  in  the  course  of  my  paper. 
I  propose  now  to  grapple  rather  more  closely  with  them,  and  with 
some  others  which  were  brought  forward  at  the  recent  Conference. 
There  were  three  classes  of  opponents  of  the  views  which  I  and 
some  others  took  of  the  importance  of  training  the  teacher. 

1.  Those  who  advocated  entire  free  trade  in  education,  checked 
by  nothing  but  public  opinion. 

2.  Those  who  would  require  no  test  whatever  from  a  teacher 
when  he  entered  on  his  career,  but  would  subject  his  work  from 
time  to  time  to  authoritative  examination. 

3.  Those  who  would  impose  an  intellectual  test,  and  nothing 
more,  on  entrance,  and  admit  an  examination  of  results. 

The  advocates  of  these  three  several  views,  while  differing  widely 
from  each  other,  agreed  in  denouncing  the  notion  —  as  Dr.  Benson 
also  denounces  it  —  that  there  is  any  such  thing  as  an  art  of  educa- 
tion ;  that  is,  they  denied  the  utility  of  training  teachers  under 
competent  direction  for  their  profession,  as  you  train  engineers  or 
architects  for  theirs.  In  this  denial  was  involved  the  counter- 
assertion,  that  all  methods  of  teaching  are  practically  on  the  same 
footing,  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  good,  in  distinction 
from  a  bad,  method ;  and  the  further  assertion,  or  implication  if 
you  will,  that  a  teacher's  instinct  is  to  be  left  to  adopt  the  one  or 
reject  the  other.  No  one,  I  think,  who  listened  here  the  other 
evening  to  Mr.  Meiklejohn's  admirable  lecture  "  On  the  Best  and 
Worst  Methods  of  Teaching  Geography,"  went  away  impressed 
with  that  opinion. 

They  were,  on  the  contrary,  impressed  with  the  notion  —  which 
is,  I  confess,  my  own  —  that,  as  the  bad  methods  happen  to  form 
the  rule  and  the  good  ones  the  exception,  neither  instinct,  nor  un- 
instructed  routine,  is  a  good  guide  in  the  matter.  Neither  instinct 
nor  routine  gives  us  the  slightest  guarantee  against  the  perpetua- 
tion of  the  worst  methods,  nor  any  encouragement  for  the  adoption 
of  the  best.  But  there  was  one  gentleman  who  went  still  further, 


118        TRAINING    AND   EQUIPMENT   OF   THE   TEACHER 

and  earnestly  "hoped"  that  we  might  have  "  none  of  the  quackery 
of  pedagogy;"  by  which  he  meant,  as  I  suppose,  to  depreciate 
both  "  method"  and  principles  of  teaching  together.  Of  course, 
it  is  easy  to  make  sport  of  a  name,  —  and,  as  it  happens,  peda- 
gogy is  not  a  pretty  one, — but  as  "arose  by  any  other  name 
would  smell  as  sweet,"  it  is,  after  all,  the  thing  rather  than  the 
name  that  is  in  question.  Let  us  call  it,  as  Professor  Pillans  did, 
Paideutics  or  Didactics,  and  say  in  a  few  words  what  it  means. 
The  practice  of  teaching,  like  that  of  every  other  art,  must  be 
founded  on  principles  which  account  both  for  what  it  does  and  for 
what  it  leaves  undone  ;  for  its  success  under  one  arrangement, 
for  its  failure  under  another.  It  is  evident  enough  that  in  this 
art,  as  in  others,  a  man  does  acts  every  one  of  which,  however 
trivial,  may  require  for  its  explanation  very  profound  investigations. 
Now,  the  man  instructed  in  the  practice  simply,  may  perform 
these  acts  perfectly,  as  a  mere  routineer,  without  knowing  any- 
thing of  the  theory  which  explains  them ;  but  it  must  be  allowed 
that  the  man  who  merely  knows  the  how  does  not  stand  so  high  as 
he  who  also  knows  the  why.  The  one  merely  works  for  results,  the 
other  investigates  causes.  The  former  is,  in  the  strict  sense  of 
the  term,  instructed  ;  the  latter  is  educated.  Paideutics  then,  in- 
cludes both  the  practice  and  the  principles  of  education  ;  and  why 
this  knowledge,  which  embraces,  of  course,  the  sciences  of  mental 
and  moral  philosophy,  as  well  as  physical  training,  should  be  re- 
garded as  ridiculous,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  conceive. 

Having  touched  upon  the  common  point  of  agreement  between 
my  opponents,  —  their  repudiation  of  Paideutics,  —  I  come  to 
consider  the  first  special  point :  the  theory  of  free  trade  in  educa- 
tion. This  theory  was  thus  propounded  by  one  of  the  speakers  at 
the  Conference.  He  would  allow  "  anyone  to  set  up  for  a  school- 
master who  chose  to  fancy  he  had  the  ability,  leaving  it  to  the 
public  to  decide  whether  or  not  he  was  fit  to  follow  the  profes- 
sion." This  is  indeed  free  trade  pur  et  simple.  Everyone  is  to 
offer  his  wares,  and  it  is  the  buyer's  business  to  see  that  he  is  not 
cheated  in  the  bargain.  There  is  nothing  new  in  this  idea ;  it  is, 
in  fact,  the  one  almost  universally  prevalent  amongst  us.  I  have 
referred  already  to  its  extraordinary  results,  and  have  questioned 
the  general  competency  of  the  buyer  in  this  case  to  form  a  correct 
judgment  of  the  value  of  the  article  he  buys.  It  has  certainly 
ITCH  assumed  that  he  is  competent;  but  the  state  of  the  market, 
and  the  general  inferiority  of  the  wares,  invalidate  the  assumption. 
But  there  is  the  seller  also.  Let  us  look  at  him  for  a  minute.  Is 


FOE   HIS   PROFESSION.  119 

he,  in  the  first  place,  an  experienced  and  well-informed  judge  of 
the  article  he  sells  ?  Well,  he  may  be ;  but  it  is  more  likely  in 
this  case  that  he  is  not ;  and  if  he  sells  you  bad  and  poisonous 
meat  for  good,  you  have  no  sort  of  redress.  You  may  try  a 
dozen ;  and  after  suffering  from  each  trial,  you  may  perhaps,  — 
for  it  is  by  no  means  certain,  —  hit  upon  a  thoroughly  good  man. 
Is  this  a  predicament  in  which  to  leave  the  education  of  the  Eng- 
lish people  ?  No ;  we  cannot  admit  that  the  fact,  that  a  man 
"  chooses  to  fancy"  that  he  has  the  ability  to  undertake  a  func- 
tion, constitutes  a  sufficient  warrant  for  the  indulgence  of  his 
fancy,  and  especially  in  a  field  of  action  where  the  dearest  inter- 
ests of  society  are  at  stake.  "We  do  not  permit  a  man  "who 
chooses  to  fancy ' '  that  he  has  ability  to  practise  surgery,  to  oper- 
ate ad  libitum,  and  only  when  public  opinion  is  roused  to  its 
danger,  decide  whether  he  is  fit  to  follow  the  profession  of  a  sur- 
geon. Nor  do  we  allow  a  man  who  may  "  choose  to  fancy  "  that 
he  has  the  ability  to  take  the  command  of  a  man-of-war,  to  under- 
take such  a  charge  on  the  mere  assurance  that  we  may  safely  trust 
to  his  "  inward  impulse."  And  if  we  require  the  strictest  guaran- 
tees of  competency  where  our  lives  and  property  are  risked,  shall 
we  be  less  anxious  to  secure  them  when  the  mental  and  moral 
lives  of  our  children  —  the  children  of  our  commonwealth  —  are 
endangered?  We  cannot,  then,  accept  the  free-trade  theory  as 
meeting  the  case.  It  has  been  tried  long  enough,  and  has  been 
found  utterly  wanting.  It  has  no  tendency  to  supply  us  with  the 
best  article,  and  it  virtually  places  the  worst  and  the  best  on  the 
same  footing.  The  public  of  the  year  2000  may  perhaps  think 
favorably  of  it ;  but  then  that  public  will  consist  of  buyers  com- 
petent to  judge  of  what  they  are  buying :  the  public  of  18G9  is 
not. 

The  second  class  of  opponents  was  composed  of  those  who 
would  limit  their  interference  with  a  teacher's  qualifications  to  the 
scrutiny  of  his  work  periodically.  "Let  him  be  what  he  may," 
they  say,  "  as  far  as  preparation  is  concerned,  if  we  find  that  he 
turns  out  good  work  —  if  his  pupils  stand  a  thorough  examination 
—  we  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  the  matter.  By  his  fruits  let 
him  be  known.  This  plea  is  so  plausible,  so  much  may  be  said  for 
it,  that  when  I  begin  to  question  whether  it  is  perfect!}'  satis- 
factory, I  may  reckon  on  being  deserted  by  some  who  have  hitherto 
supported  me.  Still  I  venture  on  the  ground.  It  docs  seem  very 
fair  and  straightforward  in  a  teacher  to  say —  "  If  you  doubt  my 
qualifications  for  my  office,  examine  my  work  and  form  your  own 


120        TRAINING    AND   EQUIPMENT   OF   THE   TEACH  I  :i: 

conclusions.  You  approve  of  the  adage,  '  As  is  the  master,  so  is 
the  school,'  —  trace  me  in  my  school,  and  give  me  credit  for  what 
you  find."  This  does,  I  say,  look  extremely  fair:  :md,  if  it 
is  to  be  taken  literally,  it  is  a  capital  concession  to  the  advancing 
power  of  Kosmos  King  vice  Chaos  deposed.  There  are,  however, 
two  or  three  remarks  to  be  made  upon  it.  First,  if  we  examine 
the  work,  we  must  examine  the  whole,  not  merely  a  part  of  it. 
The  goodness  of  a  school  cannot  be  judged  by  the  success  of  a 
minority  of  its  scholars.  There  are  in  nearly  every  school  a  few 
boys  whom  natural  talent,  stimulated  by  ambition,  will  carry  on, 
by  a  very  little  exertion  on  the  part  of  the  master,  to  a  high  pitch 
of  advancement.  These  boys  do,  in  fact,  generally  teach  them- 
selves, though  the  master  gets  —  and  often  deservedly  —  the  great- 
est part  of  the  credit  for  their  work.  The  striking  success  of  these 
exceptional  boys  is  not,  however,  the  test  we  seek.  It  is  no  evi- 
dence whatever  that  the  general  average  of  the  teaching  in  the 
school  is  good.  The  examinations  which  are  to  test  the  qualifica- 
tions and  powers  of  the  teacher  must  then  be  examinations  of  the 
whole  school,  and  not  of  its  picked  boys  only.  If  out  of  a  hun- 
dred pupils,  ninety  are  not  in  a  satisfactory  condition,  whatever 
be  that  of  the  remaining  ten,  the  success  of  these  is  not  to  be 
attributed  to  the  general  goodness  of  the  methods  of  teaching ; 
while  the  failure  of  the  ninety  is  distinctly  chargeable  with  their 
general  badness.  It  is  plain  that,  if  the  methods  are  generally 
good,  the  result  must  be  just  the  other  way.  Ninety  would  suc- 
ceed, while  ten  might  fail.  Methods  which,  somehow  or  other, 
end  in  the  failure  of  a  large  majority  of  the  pupils,  cannot  then  be 
pronounced  satisfactory.  But,  again,  suppose  that,  on  looking 
closely  into  the  success  of  the  one-tenth,  we  find  that  it  consists 
in  a  result  gained  for  the  most  part  by  a  very  mechanical  exercise 
of  the  mind,  —  that  the  memory  only,  and  not  the  reason,  has  had 
by  far  the  greater  share  in  the  achievement,  —  that  the  knowledge 
gained,  or  apparently  gained,  so  far  from  being  digested  and 
assimilated  into  the  life-blood  of  the  mental  system,  is  mainly  in 
so  crude  a  condition  that  it  is  almost  useless  as  a  means  to  that 
end,  that  the  facts  of  which  that  knowledge  consists  are  not  only 
in  a  crude  state  when  viewed  individually,  but  are  so  unconnected 
with  each  other  by  natural  association,  as  to  be  altogether  unfitted 
to  form  the  basis  for  that  science  which,  in  a  later  stage  of  the  in- 
struction, ought  to  be  founded  on  them,  —  if,  in  short,  on  a  fair 
and  accurate  scrutiny,  we  find  the  success  in  question  is  rather 
due  to  cramming  than  to  enlightened  instruction,  —  are  we,  with- 


FOR   HIS   PROFESSION.  121 

out  hesitation,  to  congratulate  the  teacher  on  the  result  of  his 
labors?  Is  it  unjust  to  him  to  say,  that,  had  he  been  acquainted 
with  better  methods  of  teaching,  the  result  would  have  been  more 
valuable  ;  and  —  if  he  will  insist  on  our  seeing  him  in  his  work  — 
that  the  reflection  proves  the  imperfection  of  the  image?  Any 
kind  of  exaggeration  on  my  part  would,  I  am  aware,  injure  rather 
than  aid  the  cause  I  wish  to  serve  ;  and  my  statements  and  opin- 
ions will  and  ought  to  be  reduced  to  their  proper  worth  ;  but  I 
believe  that  no  one  who  has  bestowed  the  same  amount  of  pains 
upon  the  subject  that  I  have  done,  will  judge  me  to  be  far  wrong 
in  the  estimate  I  have  formed.  I  therefore  conclude,  and  hope  I 
carry  you  with  me  in  the  conclusion,  that  the  real  value  of  results 
is  to  be  estimated  in  connection  with  their  causes ;  and  as,  by  my 
argument,  the  teacher  is  responsible  for  the  results  of  his  teach- 
ing, that  the  examination  of  his  work  requires  to  be  preceded  by  a 
preliminary  examination  of  himself.  This  is  conceded  by  those 
whom  I  placed  in  my  third  category,  and  the  only  difference  I 
have  with  them  consists  in  the  different  views  we  entertain  respect- 
ing the  nature  of  the  preliminary  examination.  I  do  not  agree 
with  them  in  thinking  that  the  examination  should  be  merely  an 
intellectual  test.  I  think  it  should  also  test  the  teacher's  ability 
to  teach,  and  be  itself  the  result  of  a  special  course  of  instruction 
and  training  in  the  theory  and  practice  of  education.  I  need  not, 
however,  dwell  longer  on  this  point.  It  has  really  formed  the 
substance  of  my  entire  paper. 

I  have  thus  endeavored  to  show :  — 

1 .  That  the  teacher  is  justly  accredited  with  the  good  or  bad 
results  of  his  teaching. 

2.  That  the  test  applied  to  English  education  generally  proves 
that  our  teaching  is  to  a  large  extent  inefficient. 

3.  That  the  remedy  for  bad  results  is  the  reformation  of  their 
cause  ;  in  this  case,  the  proper  training  and  instruction  of  the 
teacher. 

4.  That  this  suitable  and  sufficient  training,  assumed  in  England 
to  be  absurd  in  conception  and  impossible  in  practice,  is  highly 
valued  in  idea,  and  accomplished  in  fact,  in  France  and  Germany. 

5.  That,  if  teachers  passed  through  a  course  of  professional 
and  instructive  training  as  a  test  both  of  their  interest  in  educa- 
tion and  their  fitness  to  undertake  it,  public  opinion  would  begin 
to  recognize  their  fitness,  and  to  honor  proportionally  the  pro- 
fession of  the  teacher ;  and  thus  the  interests  of   education,  of 


TRAINING   AND   EQUIPMENT    OF   THE   TEACH  HI! 

teachers  as  a  class,  and  of  the  entire  community,  would  be  ad- 
vanced together. 

6.  That  the  application  of  the  theory  of  commercial  free  trade 
to  education  is  fallacious  and  mischievous,  inasmuch  as  the  general 
public,  the  buyers,  cannot,  until  they  are  more  educated  themselves, 
be  suitable  judges  of  the  quality  of  the  wares  —  the  education 
offered  them. 

7.  That  the  test  of  results  only  is  insufficient,  inasmuch  as, 
however  valuable  they  are  in  appearance,  they  may  be  the  product 
of  contracted  and  unenlightened  views,  as  embodied  in  practice, 
of  the  true  ends  of  education,  and  indeed  may  be  entirely  due  to 
that   "cramming"   which   is   directly   antagonistic   to   healthful 
mental  training. 

In  conclusion,  I  beg  to  present  you  with  a  compressed  statement 
that  I  have  purposely  left  to  the  last,  of  certain  facts,  which  none, 
I  believe,  can  gainsay,  and  which  serve  to  show  what  is  at  this 
moment  the  popular  estimate  of  the  value  of  the  preliminary 
training  and  equipment  of  the  teacher  for  his  work.  It  consists 
of  a  brief  report  of  some  remarks  I  lately  addressed,  as  one  of  a 
deputation  from  our  Registration  Society  to  the  President  of  the 
Committee  of  Council  on  Education.  I  stated,  that  the  perfectly 
unchartered  "liberty  of  teaching"  prevailing  amongst  us  allows 
a  man  with  the  four  following  disqualifications  for  the  office  of  a 
teacher  to  stand  exactly  on  the  same  footing,  as  a  candidate  for 
public  support,  with  the  man  who  is  perfectly  qualified  in  the  same 
respects : — 

1 .  A  man  destitute  of  all  knowledge  of  the  subject  he  professes  to 
teach  may  stand  before  the  world  as  a  teacher.     Now,  whether 
teaching  be   the  communication  of   knowledge  to   the   mind  of 
another,  or,  as  I  rather  believe,  the  direction  of  the  pupil's  mind  in 
the  process  of  acquisition,  it  is  obvious,  in  the  first  case,  that  a 
man  cannot  give  what  he  has  not  got,  and,  in  the  second,  that  he 
cannot  be  an  efficient  guide  in  a  path  which  he  has  not  himself 
travelled  before. 

2.  A  man  entirely  unapt  to  teach,  whether  in  the  way  of  com- 
munication or  superintendence,  entirely  inexperienced  too,  knowing 
nothing  whatever  of  teaching  as  an  art,  and  as  conducted  by  those 
who  are  authorities  in  the  profession  ;  whose  entire  acquaintance 
with  the  subject  consists  in  a  cold  and  colorless  reminiscence  of 
that  routine  of  his  own  school  days  which  made  him  what  he  is  — 
such  a  man  may,  without  any  authorization  whatever  declare  him- 
self to  be  a  teacher. 


FOR   HIS   PROFESSION. 

3.  A  man  quite  ignorant  of  the  principles  of  education,  which 
underlie  the  practice  of  the  art,  and  which  become,  when  truly 
possessed,  a  means  of  enlightenment  and  power  to  the  teacher,  as 
rendering  him  the  master  and  not  the  slave  of  routine,  may  profess 
himself,  unchallenged,  a  teacher. 

4.  A  man  may  declare  himself  to  be  a  teacher  who  knows  nothing 
whatever  of  the  great  practitioners  and  expounders  of  his  art.     What 
those  who  have  most  profoundly  investigated  its  principles  have 
written,  what  those  who  have  most  successfully  carried  out  its 
processes  have  done,  may  be  utterly  unknown  by  a  person  claim- 
ing to  be  regai'ded  as  a  teacher.     For  him  Quintillian,  Ascham, 
Comenius,  Locke,  Pestalozzi,  Jacotot,  and  even  Arnold  and  Herbert 
Spencer,  may  have  lived  and  labored  in  vain.     His  own  uninterest- 
ing and  inefficient  methods,  his   own  self-devised  principles  of 
instruction,  may  be  the  sum  of  all  that  he  knows  on  the  subject. 

Against  such  a  state  of  things  all  teachers  who  are  really  inter- 
ested in  the  general  cause  of  education,  in  which  their  own  is 
essentially  included,  ought  loudly  and  perseveringly  to  protest.* 

*  For  additional  enforcements  of  the  argument  for  teaching  the  teacher,  see  especially  Mr. 
Fitch's  admirable  Report  to  the  Schools  Inquiry  Commission. 


THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  THE 


"  What  is  the  whole  business  of  education  but  a  practical  application  of 
rules,  deduced  from  our  own  experiments,  or  from  those  of  others,  on  the 
most  effectual  modes  of  developing  and  of  cultivating  the  intellectual  fac- 
ulties and  the  moral  principles  ?  "  —  DTJOALD  STEWAKT. 


[Series  published  under  the  sanction  of  the  National  Union  for 
Improving  the  Education  of  Women  of  all  Classes.  —  No.  IV. 
LONDON  :  WILLIAM  RIDGEWAY,  169,  PICCADILLY,  W.  1873.] 


THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  TRAINING 
OF  THE   TEACHER. 


THIS  subject,  on  which  much  has  been  at  various  times  written  and 
said  to  little  practical  purpose,  is  again  coming  to  the  front  as  one 
of  paramount  importance.  No  apology,  therefore,  is  needed  for 
pressing  the  consideration  of  it  on  the  attention  of  all  who  are 
interested  in  the  progress  of  education,  and  especially  of  all  who  are 
interested  in  the  "  National  Union  for  improving  the  education  of 
women  of  all  classes." 

Among  the  "objects"  aimed  at  by  the  Union,  one  made  es- 
pecially prominent  is  this  :  —  "  To  raise  the  Social  Status  of  female 
teachers,  by  encouraging  women  to  make  teaching  a  profession, 
and  to  qualify  themselves  for  it  by  a  sound  and  liberal  education, 
and  by  thorough  training  in  the  art  of  teaching."  The  "  Social" 
bearings  of  the  subject  have  been  already  treated  by  Miss  Shirreff 
in  No.  3  of  this  series  of  pamphlets,  and  it  is  not  necessary  here 
further  to  speak  of  them.  The  special  object  I  have  in  view  is  to 
call  attention  to  "  the  training  of  the  teacher  in  the  art  of  teach- 
ing," and  to  show  what  is  and  what  is  not  indicated  by  that  ex- 
pression. 

In  the  first  place,  however,  I  wish  to  make  a  few  remarks  on 
the  term  "  profession,"  as  applied  to  teaching.  It  cannot  be  said, 
strictly,  that  we  have  in  England,  at  this  moment,  any  profession 
of  teaching.  The  term  "profession,"  when  properly,  that  is, 
technically  employed,  connotes  or  implies  "learned;"  and  in- 
volves the  idea  of  an  incorporated  union  of  persons  qualified  by 
attainments  and  by  a  scientific  training  for  a  particular  calling 
in  life,  and  duly  authorized  to  pursue  it.  It  is  in  this  sense  alone 
that  the  term  is  emploj^ed,  in  speaking  of  the  professions  of  law, 
medicine  and  theology.  As,  however,  in  the  case  of  education  — 
and  speaking  particularly  of  secondary  education  —  no  positive 
attainments,  no  special  training,  no  authoritative  credentials  what- 
ever are  demanded  as  professional  qualifications,  it  is  obvious  that 
there  is,  strictly  speaking,  no  profession  of  teaching  amongst  us, 


128     IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  TEACHER. 

and  that  when  we  use  the  term  "  profession"  in  this  application 
of  it,  we  use  it  in  a  vague,  inaccurate  and  untechnical  sense.  As 
to  attainments  none  whatever  are  required  of  the  person  who 
"professes"  to  teach.  The  profound  ignoramus,  if  sufficiently 
endowed  with  assurance,  may  compete  for  public  patronage  on 
nearly  equal  terms  with  the  most  cultivated  student  of  learning 
and  science,  and  may  in  many  cases  even  carry  off  the  prize ; 
while  as  to  training,  the  teacher  who  has  severely  disciplined  his 
mind  by  the  study  of  the  theory  of  education,  and  carefully  con- 
formed his  practice  to  it,  scarcely  stands  a  better  chance  of  suc- 
cess than  the  ignorant  pretender  who  cannot  even  define  the 
term"  education;"  who  has  no  conception  of  the  meaning  of 
"  training  ;  "  and  whose  empirical  self-devised  methods  of  instruc- 
tion constitute  the  sum  total  of  his  qualifications  for  the  office  he 
assumes. 

Lastly,  as  to  credentials,  both  classes  of  teachers,  the  qualified 
and  the  unqualified,  stand  on  precisely  the  same  footing  before 
the  public.  No  authoritative  exequatur  distinguishes  the  compe- 
tent from  the  incompetent  teacher.  Both  jostle  each  other  in  the 
strife  for  pre-eminence,  and  the  public  look  on  all  the  while  with 
indifference,  apparently  unconscious  that  their  children's  dearest 
interests  are  involved  in  the  issue.* 

It  is  obvious  then,  that  as  neither  knowledge,  training,  nor  cre- 
dentials are  required  of  a  teacher,  there  can  be  no  "  profession  of 
teaching."  The  assumption,  however,  that  there  is  such  a  pro- 
fession, and  that  an}*  one  who  pleases  may  claim  to  be  a  member 
of  it,  has  proved  very  injurious  to  the  interests  of  the  public. 
Girls  left  unprovided  for,  young  widows  left  in  a  similar  predica- 
ment, and  many  others  suddenly  plunged  into  difficulties  and 
obliged  to  cast  about  for  a  livelihood,  often  can  think  of  no  other 
employment  than  that  of  teaching,  which,  as  being  ra  common 
parlance  "professional,"  is  therefore  "genteel ; "  and  accordingly, 
without  a  single  qualification,  often  with  the  disqualification  that 
they  have  nearly  all  their  previous  lives  regarded  teachers  and 
teaching  with  contempt,  declare  themselves  before  the  world  ready 
to  teach.  The  declaration,  if  it  means  anything,  means  that  they 
profess  themselves  ready  to  undertake  the  practice  of  an  art 
which,  beyond  most  others,  requires  peculiar  knowledge,  experi- 
ence, culture,  and  tact.  It  means  further,  that  they  are  prepared 
to  watch  over  the  development  of  a  child's  growing  mind,  to  fur- 

*  Sec  Appendix. 


IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  TEACHER.  129 

nisli  it  with  suitable  mental  food  at  the  proper  time ;  to  see  that 
the  food  is  thoroughly  digested  ;  to  stimulate  it  to  exercise  its  fac- 
ulties in  the  right  direction  ;  to  curb  its  aberrations  ;  to  elicit  the 
consciousness  of  independent  power ;  to  form,  in  short,  habits 
of  thinking  for  life-long  use.  All  this,  and  very  much  more,  is 
really  involved  in  the  conception  we  ought  to  form  of  a  teacher's 
functions  ;  and  yet  we  see  every  day  persons  who  have  not  even  a 
conception  of  this  conception  :  persons  destitute  of  all  knowledge 
of  the  subjects  they  profess  to  teach,  of  the  nature  of  the  mind 
which  is  to  be  taught,  of  the  practical  art  itself,  of  the  principles 
of  education  which  underlie  the  art,  and  of  the  experience  of  the 
most  eminent  instructors,  blindly  and  rashly  forcing  themselves 
before  the  world  as  teachers.  Such  persons  seem  not  to  be  aware 
that  if  with  similar  qualifications  they  were  to  undertake  to  pi-ac- 
tise  the  arts  of  medicine,  law,  architecture,  engineering,  or  music, 
they  would  be  laughed  at  everywhere.  Yet  these  very  persons, 
who  would  be  instinctively  conscious  of  their  incompeteucy,  with- 
out knowledge  or  training,  to  perform  a  surgical  operation,  to 
steer  a  vessel,  to  build  a  house,  or  to  guide  a  locomotive,  are  ready, 
at  a  moment's  warning,  to  perform  any  number  of  operations  on 
a  child's  mind,  and  to  undertake  the  direction  of  its  mental  or 
moral  forces  —  a  task,  considering  the  delicacy  of  the  machinery 
with  which  they  have  to  deal,  more  difficult  in  many  respects  than 
any  other  that  can  be  named. 

In  maintaining,  however,  generally  that  the  professor  of  an  art 
should  understand  its  principles,  and  that  he  cannot  understand 
them  without  study  and  training,  I  do  not  mean  to  assert  that  there 
may  not  be  found  among  those  who  feel  themselves  suddenly  called 
upon  to  act  as  teachers,  especially  among  women,  many,  who  with- 
out obvious  preliminary  training,  are  really  already  far  advanced  in 
actual  training  for  the  task  they  assume.  In  these  cases,  superior 
mental  culture,  acute  insight  into  character,  ready  tact  and  earnest 
sympathy  constitute,  pro  tanto,  a  real  preparation  for  the  profession  ; 
and  supply,  to  a  considerable  extent,  the  want  of  technical  training. 
To  such  persons  it  not  unfrcqueutly  happens  that  a  matured  con- 
sciousness of  the  importance  of  the  task  they  have  undertaken, 
and  actual  contact  with  the  work  itself,  rapidly  suggest  what  is 
needed  to  supplement  their  inexperience.  Such  cases,  however, 
as  being  rare  and  exceptional,  are  not  to  be  relied  on  as  examples. 
Even  in  them,  moreover,  a  thoughtful  study  of  the  Science  of 
Education,  and  of  the  correlated  Art,  would  guide  the  presumed 
faculty  to  better  results  than  can  be  gained  without  it. 


130     IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  TEACHER. 

We  can  have  little  hesitation  then  in  asserting  that  the  preten- 
sion to  be  able  to  teach  without  knowing  even  what  teaching 
means ;  without  mastering  its  processes  and  methods  as  an  art ; 
without  gaining  some  acquaintance  with  its  doctrines  as  a  science  ; 
without  studying  what  has  been  said  and  done  by  its  most  eminent 
practitioners,  is  an  unwarrantable  pretension  which  is  so  near  akin 
to  empiricism  and  quackery,*  that  it  is  difficult  to  make  the  dis- 
tinction. 

There  are,  however,  two  or  three  fallacious  arguments  some- 
times urged  against  the  preliminary  training  of  the  teacher  which 
it  is  important  briefly  to  discuss. 

The  first  is,  that  "granting  the  need  of  such  training  for 
teachers  of  advanced  subjects,  it  is  unnecessary  for  the  teaching 
of  elementary  subjects.  Anybody  can  teach  a  child  to  read,  write, 
and  cipher."  This  is,  no  doubt,  true,  if  teaching  means  nothing 
more  than  mechanical  drill  and  cram  ;  but  if  teaching  is  an  art  and 
requires  to  be  artisticalty  conducted,  it  is  not  true.  A  teacher  is 
one  who,  having  carefully  studied  the  nature  of  the  mind,  and 
learned  by  reading  and  practice,  some  of  the  means  by  which  that 
nature  may  be  influenced,  applies  the  resources  of  his  art  to  the 
child-nature  before  him.  Knowing  that  in  this  nature  there  are 
forces,  moral  and  intellectual,  on  the  development  of  which  the 
child's  well-being  depends,  he  draws  them  forth  by  repeated  acts, 
exercises  them  in  order  to  strengthen  them,  trains  them  into  faculty, 
and  continually  aims  at  making  all  that  he  does,  all  that  he  gets 
his  pupils  to  do,  minister  to  the  consciousness  of  growth  and 
power  in  the  child's  mind.  If  this  is  a  correct  description  of  the 
teacher's  function,  it  is  obvious  that  it  applies  to  every  department 
of  the  teacher's  work ;  as  much  to  the  teaching  of  reading  and 
arithmetic  as  to  that  of  Greek  pla3's,  or  the  Differential  Calculus. 
•The  function  does  not  change  with  the  subject.  But  I  go  further, 
and  maintain  that  the  beginning  of  the  process  of  education  is  even 
more  important  in  some  respects  than  the  later  stages.  .77  n'y  a 
que  le  premier  pas  qui  coMe.  The  teacher  who  takes  in  hand 
the  instruction  and  direction  of  a  mind  which  has  never  been 
taught  before,  commences  a  series  of  processes,  which  by  our 
theory  should  have  a  definite  end  in  view  —  and  that  end  is  to 
induce  in  the  child's  mind  the  consciousness  of  power.  Power  is, 
of  course,  a  relative  term,  but  it  is  not  inapplicable  to  the  case 

*  "  Empiric;  one  of  a  sect  of  ancient  physicians,  who  practised  from  experience,  not  from 
theory."  —  "  Quack;  a  boastful  pretender  to  arts  he  does  not  understand." 


IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  TEACHER.     131 

before  us.  The  teacher,  even  of  reading,  who  first  directs  the 
child's  own  observation  on  the  facts  in  view  —  the  combination  of 
the  letters  in  separate  words  or  syllables  —  gets  him  to  compare 
these  combinations  together,  and  notice  in  what  respect  they  differ 
or  agree,  to  state  himself  the  difference  or  agreement  —  to  ana- 
lyze each  new  compound,  into  its  known  and  unknown  elements, 
applying  the  known,  as  far  as  possible,  to  interpret  the  unknown — 
to  refer  each  fresh  acquisition  to  that  first  made,  to  find  out  for 
himself  everything  which  can  be  found  out  through  observation, 
inference  and  reflection  —  to  look  for  no  help,  except  in  matters 
(such  as  the  sounds)  which  are  purely  conventional  —  to  teach 
himself  to  read,  in  short,  by  the  exercise  of  his  own  mind  —  such 
a  teacher,  it  is  contended,  while  getting  the  child  to  learn  how  to 
read,  is  in  fact,  doing  much  more  than  this  —  he  is  teaching  the 
child  how  to  use  his  mind  —  how  to  observe,  investigate,  think.* 
It  will  probably  be  granted  that  a  process  of  this  kind  —  if  prac- 
ticable —  would  be  a  valuable  initiation  for  the  child  in  the  art  of 
learning  generally,  and  that  it  would  necessarily  be  attended  by 
what  I  have  described  as  a  consciousness  of  power.  But,  more- 
over, —  which  is  also  very  important  —  it  would  be  attended  by  a 
consciousness  of  pleasure.  Even  the  youngest  child  is  sensible  of 
the  charm  of  doing  things  himself  —  of  finding  out  things  for 
himself  ;  and  it  is  of  cardinal  importance  in  elementary  instruction 
to  lay  the  grounds  for  the  association  of  pleasure  with  mental 
activity.  It  would  not  be  be  difficult,  but  it  is  unnecessar}-,  to 
contrast  such  a  method  as  this,  which  awakens  all  the  powers  of 
the  child's  mind,  keeps  them  in  vivid  and  pleasurable  exercise,  and 
forms  good  mental  habits,  with  that  too  often  pursued,  which 
deadens  the  faculties,  induces  idle  habits,  distaste  for  learning, 
and  incapacity  for  mental  exertion. 

It  is  clear,  then,  that  "  any  teacher  "  cannot  teach  even  reading, 
so  as  to  make  it  a  mental  exercise,  and,  consequently,  a  part,  of 
real  education  —  in  other  words,  so  as  "  to  make  all  that  he  does, 
and  all  he  gets  his  pupil  to  do,  minister  to  the  consciousness  of 
growth  and  power  in  the  child's  mind."  So  far  then  from  agree- 
ing with  the  proposition  in  question,  I  believe  that  the  early  devel- 
opment of  a  child's  mind  is  a  work  that  can  only  effectually  be 
performed  by  an  accomplished  teacher;  such  a  one  as  I  have 
already  described.  In  some  of  the  best  German  elementary 

*  See  this  process  fully  described  in  the  Author's  third  lecture  "  On  the  Science  and  Art  of 
Education,"  published  by  the  College  of  Preceptors,  p.  63. 


132     IMPORTANCE  OT  THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  TEACHER. 

schools  men  of  literary  distinction,  Doctors  in  Philosophy,  are 
employed  in  teaching  children  how  to  read,  and  in  the  highly 
organized  Jesuit  Schools,  it  was  a  regulation  that  only  those 
teachers  who  had  been  specially  successful  in  the  higher  classes 
should  be  entrusted  with  the  care  of  the  lowest. 

There  is,  moreover,  another  consideration  which  deserves  to  be 
kept  in  view  in  discussing  the  competency  of  "  any  teacher"  to 
take  charge  of  a  child  who  is  beginning  to  learn.  Most  young 
untrained  teachers  fancy  when  they  give  their  first  lesson  to  a 
child  who  has  not  been  taught  before,  that  they  are  commencing 
its  education.  A  moment's  reflection  will  show  that  this  is  not  the 
case.  They  may  indeed  be  commencing  its  formal  education,  but 
they  forget  that  it  has  been  long  a  pupil  of  that  great  School,  of 
which  Nature  is  the  mistress,  and  that  their  proper  function  is  to 
continue  the  education  which  is  already  far  advanced.  In  that 
School,  observation  and  experiment,  acting  as  superintendents  of 
instruction,  through  the  agency  of  the  child's  own  senses,  having 
taught  it  all  it  knows  at  the  time  when  natural  is  superseded,  or 
rather  supplemented  by  formal  education.  Can  it  then  be  a  matter 
of  indifference  whether  or  not  the  teacher  understands  the  pro- 
cesses, and  enters  into  the  spirit  of  the  teaching  carried  on  at  that 
former  School ;  and  is  it  not  certain  that  his  want  of  knowledge 
on  these  points  will  prove  very  injurious  to  the  young  learner? 
The  teacher  who  has  this  knowledge  will  bring  it  into  active  exer- 
cise in  every  lesson  that  he  gives,  and,  as  I  have  shown  in  the  case 
of  teaching  to  read,  will  make  it  instrumental  in  the  development 
of  all  the  intellectual  faculties  of  the  child.  He  knows  that  his 
method  is  sound,  because  it  is  based  on  Nature ;  and  he  knows, 
moreover,  that  it  is  better  than  Nature's,  because  it  supersedes 
desultory  and  fortuitous  action  by  that  which  is  organized  with  a 
view  to  a  definite  end.  The  teacher  who  knows  nothing  of 
Nature's  method,  and  fails,  therefore,  to  appreciate  its  spirit,  de- 
vises at  haphazard  a  method  of  his  own  which  too  generally  has 
nothing  in  common  with  it,  and  succeds  in  effectually  quenching  the 
child's  own  active  energies  ;  in  making  him  a  passive  recipient  of 
knowledge,  which  he  has  had  no  share  in  gaining ;  and  in  finally 
converting  him  into  a  mere  unintellectual  machine.  Untrained 
teachers,  especially  those  who,  as  the  phrase  is,  "  commence  "  the 
education  of  children,  are,  as  yet,  little  aware  how  much  of  the 
dulness,  stupidity,  and  distaste  for  learning  which  they  complain 
of  in  their  pupils,  is  of  their  own  creation.  The  upshot  then  of 
this  discussion  is,  not  that  "  any  teacher,"  but  only  those  teachers 


IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  TEACHER.  133 

who  are  trained  in  the  art  of  teaching  can  be  safely  entrusted  with 
the  education  of  the  child's  earliest  efforts  in  the  career  of 
instruction. 

Another  fallacy,  which  it  is  important  to  expose,  is  involved  in 
the  assumption,  not  unfrequently  met  with,  that  a  man's  "  choosing 
to  fancy  that  he  has  the  ability  to  teach,  is  a  sufficient  warrant  for 
his  doing  so,"  leaving,  it  is  added,  "the  public  to  judge  whether 
or  not  he  is  fit  for  his  profession."  Ridiculous  as  this  proposition 
may  appear,  I  have  heard  it  gravely  argued  for  and  approved  in  a 
conference  of  teachers,  many  of  whom,  no  doubt,  had  good 
grounds  of  their  own  for  their  adherence  to  it.  Simply  stated,  it 
is  the  theory  of  free  trade  in  education.  Every  one  is  to  be  at 
liberty  to  offer  his  wares,  and  it  is  the  buyer's  business  to  take 
care  that  he  is  not  cheated  in  the  bargain.  It  is  unnecessary  for 
my  present  purpose  to  say  more  on  the  general  proposition  than 
this  —  that  the  state  of  the  market  and  the  frequent  inferiority  of 
the  wares  invalidate  the  assumption  of  the  competency  of  the 
buyer  to  form  a  correct  estimate  of  the  value  of  the  article  he 
buys,  and,  moreover,  that  an  immense  quantity  of  mischief  may 
be,  and  actually  is  done  to  the  parties  most  concerned,  the  children 
of  the  buyers,  while  the  hazardous  experiment  is  going  on.  As 
to  the  minor  proposition,  the  man's  "  choosing  to  fancy  that  he 
has  the  ability  "  to  teach  is  a  sufficient  warrant  for  his  doing  so,  it 
is  obviously  in  direct  opposition  to  the  argument  I  am  maintaining. 
It  cannot  for  a  moment  be  admitted  that  a  man's  "  choosing  to 
fancy  that  he  has  the  ability"  to  discharge  a  function  constitutes 
a  sufficient  warrant  for  the  indulgence  of  his  fane}*,  especially  in  a 
field  of  action  where  the  dearest  interests  of  society  are  at  stake. 
We  do  not  allow  a  man  ' '  who  chooses  to  fancy  that  he  has  the 
ability  "  to  practise  surgery,  to  operate  on  our  limbs  at  his  plea- 
sure, and  only  after  scores  of  disastrous  experiments,  decide 
whether  he  is  "  fit  to  follow  the  profession"  of  a  surgeon.  Nor 
do  we  allow  a  man  who  may  "choose  to  fancy  that  he  has  the 
ability  "  to  take  the  command  of  a  man-of-war,  to  undertake  such 
a  charge  on  the  mere  assurance  that  we  may  safely  trust  to  his 
"inward  impulse."  And  if  we  require  the  strictest  guarantees 
of  competencj1,  where  our  lives  and  property  are  risked,  shall  we 
be  less  anxious  to  secure  them  when  the  mental  and  moral  lives  of 
our  children  —  the  children  of  our  commonwealth  —  are  endan- 
gered? I  repudiate  then  entirely  this  doctrine  of  an  "inward 
impulse,"  which  is  to  supersede  the  orderly  training  of  the  teacher 
in  the  art  of  teaching.  It  has  been  tried  long  enough,  and  has 


134     IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  TEACHER. 

been  found  utterly  wanting.  Fallacies,  however,  are  often  singu- 
larly tenacious  of  life,  and  we  are  not  therefore  surprised  at  Mr. 
Meiklejohn's*  assertion,  that  in  more  than  50  per  cent,  of  the 
letters  which  he  examined,  the  special  qualification  put  forward  by 
the  candidates  was  their  "  feeling  "  that  they  could  perform  the 
duties  of  the  office  in  question  to  their  own  satisfaction."  (!) 
This  is  obviously  only  another  specimen,  though  certainly  a  re- 
markable one,  of  the  "  inward  impulse  "  theory. 

The  third  fallacy  I  propose  to  deal  with  is  couched  in  the  com- 
mon assumption  that  "  any  one  who  knows  a  subject  can  teach  it." 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  teacher  should  have  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  subject  he  professes  to  teach,  and  especially  for 
this,  if  for  no  other  reason  —  that  as  his  proper  function  is  to 
guide  the  process  by  which  his  pupil  is  to  learn,  it  will  be  of  the 
greatest  advantage  to  him  as  a  guide  to  have  gone  himself  through 
the  process  of  learning.  But,  then,  it  is  very  possible  that  although 
his  experience  has  been  real  and  personal,  it  may  not  have  been 
conscious  —  that  is,  that  he  may  have  been  too  much  absorbed  in 
the  process  itself  to  take  account  of  the  natural  laws  of  its  opera- 
ation.  This  conscious  knowledge  of  the  method  by  which  the  mind 
gains  ideas  is,  in  fact,  a  branch  of  Psychology,  and  he  may  not 
have  studied  that  science.  Nor  was  it  necessary  for  his  purpose, 
as  a  learner,  that  he  should  study  it.  But  the  conditions  are  quite 
altered  when  he  becomes  a  teacher.  He  now  assumes  the  direction 
of  a  process  which  is  essentially  not  his  but  the  learner's  ;  for  it  is 
obvious  that  he  can  no  more  think  for  the  pupil  than  he  can  eat  or 
sleep  for  him.  His  efficient  direction,  then,  will  mainly  depend  on 
his  thoughtful  conscious  knowledge  of  all  the  conditions  of  the 
problem  which  he  has  to  solve.  That  problem  consists  in  getting 
his  pupil  to  learn,  and  it  is  evident  that  he  may  know  his  subject, 
without  knowing  the  best  means  of  making  his  pupil  know  it  too, 
which  is  the  assumed  end  of  all  his  teaching :  in  other  words,  he 
may  be  an  adept  in  his  subject,  but  a  novice  in  the  art  of  teaching 
it.  Natural  tact  and  insight  may,  in  many  cases,  rapidly  suggest 
the  faculty  that  is  needed  ;  but  the  position  still  remains  unaffected 
that  knowing  a  subject  is  a  very  different  thing  from  knowing 
how  to  teach  it.  This  conclusion  is  indeed  involved  in  the  very 
conception  of  an  art  of  teaching,  an  art  which  has  principles, 
laws,  and  processes  peculiar  to  itself. 

But,  again,  a  man  profoundly  acquainted  with  a  subject  may  be 

*  See  Appendix. 


IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  TEACHER.     135 

unapt  to  teach  it  by  reason  of  the  very  height  and  extent  of  his 
knowledge.  His  mind  habitually  dwells  among  the  mountains,  and 
he  has  therefore  small  sympathy  with  the  toilsome  plodders  on  the 
plains  below.  It  is  so  long  since  he  was  a  learner  himself  that  he 
forgets  the  difficulties  and  perplexities  which  once  obstructed  his 
path,  and  which  are  so  painfully  felt  by  those  who  are  still  in  the 
condition  in  which  he  once  was  himself.  It  is  a  hard  task,  there- 
fore, to  him  to  condescend  to  their  condition,  to  place  himself  along- 
side of  them,  and  to  force  a  sympathy  which  he  cannot  naturally 
feel  with  their  trials  and  experience.  The  teacher,  in  this  case,  even 
less  than  in  the  other,  is  not  likely  to  conceive  justly  of  all  that  is 
involved  in  the  art  of  teaching,  or  to  give  himself  the  trouble  of 
acquiring  it.  Be  this,  however,  as  it  may,  both  illustrations  of  the 
case  show  that  it  is  a  fallacy  to  assert  that  there  is  any  necessary 
connection  between  knowing  a  subject,  and  knowing  how  to 
teach  it. 

Having  now  shown  that  the  present  state  of  public  opinion  in 
England,  which  permits  any  one  who  pleases  to  "set  up"  as  a 
teacher  without  regard  to  qualifications  is  inconsistent  with  the 
„  notion  that  teaching  is  an  art  for  the  exercise  of  which  preliminary, 
training  is  necessary,  and  disposed  of  those  prevalent  fallacies 
which  are,  to  a  great  extent,  constituents  of  that  public  opinion, 
I  proceed  to  give  some  illustrations  of  teaching  as  it  is  in  contrast 
with  teaching  as  it  should  be.  The  fundamental  proposition,  to 
which  all  that  I  have  to  say  on  the  point  in  question  must  be  re- 
ferred, is  this  —  that  teaching,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term,  is 
a  branch  of  education,  and  that  education  is  the  development  and 
training  of  the  faculties  with  a  view  to  create  in  the  pupil's  mind 
a  consciousness  of  power.  Every  process  employed  in  what  is 
called  teaching  that  will  not  bear  this  test  is,  more  or  less,  of  the 
essence  of  cramming,  and  cramming  is  a  direct  interference  with, 
and  antagonistic  to,  the  true  end  of  education.  Cramming  may 
be  defined  for  our  present  purpose  as  the  didactic  imposition  on  the 
child's  mind  of  ready-made  results,  of  results  gained  by  the 
thought  of  other  people  ;  through  processes  in  which  his  mind  has 
not  been  called  upon  to  take  a  part.  During  this  performance  the 
mind  of  the  pupil  is  for  the  most  part  a  passive  recipient  of  the 
matter  forced  into  it,  and  the  only  faculty  actively  employed  is 
memory.  The  result  is  that  memory  instead  of  being  occupied  in 
its  proper  function  of  retaining  the  impression  left  on  the  mind  by 
its  own  active  operations,  and  being  therefore  subordinate  and  sub- 
sequent to  those  operations,  is  forced  into  a  position  to  which  it 


136     IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  TEACHER. 

has  no  natural  right,  and  made  to  precede,  instead  of  waiting  on, 
the  mind's  action.  Thus  the  true  sequence  of  causes  and  con- 
sequences is  disturbed,  and  memory  becomes  a  principal  agent  in 
instruction.  If  we  further  reflect  that  ideas  gained  by  the  direct 
action  of  the  mind  naturally  find  their  proper  place  among  the 
other  ideas  already  existing  there  by  the  law  of  association,  while 
those  arbitrarily  forced  into  it  do  so  only  by  accident  —  for  the  mind 
receives  only  that  which  it  is  already  prepared  to  receive  —  we  see 
that  cramming,  which  takes  no  account  of  preparedness,  is  abso- 
lutely opposed  to  development,  that  is  to  education  in  the  true  sense 
of  the  term.  Cramming,  therefore,  has  nothing  in  common  with 
the  art  of  teaching,  and  the  great  didactic  truth  is  established  that 
it  is  the  manner  or  method  rather  than  the  thing  taught,  that  con- 
stitutes the  real  value  of  the  teaching. 

Mr.  D'Arcy  Thompson,  in  his  interesting  book  entitled  "  Way- 
side Thoughts,"  referring  to  the  usual  process  of  cramming  in 
education,  compares  it  to  the  deglutition  by  the  boa  constrictor  of 
a  whole  goat  at  a  meal,  but  he  remarks  that  while  the  boa  by  de- 
grees absorbs  the  animal  into  his  system,  the  human  boa  often 
goes  about  all  his  life  with  the  undigested  goat  in  his  stomach ! 
There  may  be  some  extraA'agance  in  this  whimsical  illustration, 
but  it  involves,  after  all,  a  very  serious  truth.  How  many  men 
and  women  are  there  who,  if  they  do  not  carry  the  entire  goat  with 
them  throughout  life,  retain  in  an  undigested  condition  huge  frag- 
ments of  it,  which  press  as  a  dead  weight  on  the  system  —  a  source 
of  torpidity  and  uneasiness,  instead  of  becoming  through  proper 
assimilation  a  means  of  energy  and  power.  The  ti*ue  educator,  who 
is  at  the  same  time  a  genuine  artist,  proceeds  to  his  work  on  prin- 
ciples diametrically  opposed  to  those  involved  in  cramming.  -In 
the  first  place  he  endeavors  to  form  a  just  conception  of  the  nature, 
aims,  and  ends  of  education,  as  of  a  theory  which  is  to  govern  his 
professional  action.  According  to  this  conception  "education  is 
the  training  carried  on  consciously  and  continuously  by  the  edu- 
cator with  the  view  of  converting  desultory  and  accidental  force 
into  organized  action,  and  of  ultimately  making  the  child  operated 
on  by  it  a  healthy,  intelligent,  moral,  and  religious  man."  Con- 
fining himself  to  intellectual  training,  he  sees  that  this  must  be 
accomplished  through  instruction,  which  is  "  the  orderly  placing  of 
knowledge  in  the  mind  with  a  definite  object ;  the  mere  aggrega- 
tion of  incoherent  ideas,  gained  by  desultory  and  unconnected 
mental  acts  being  no  more  instruction  than  heaping  bricks  and 


IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  TEACHER.     137 

stone  together  is  building  a  house."*  These  conceptions  of  the 
nature  and  aim  of  education,  and  of  its  proper  relation  to  instruc- 
tion, suggest  to  him  the  consideration  of  the  means  to  be  employed. 
These  means  to  be  effectual  must  have  an  exact  scientific  relation 
to  the  nature  of  the  machinery  that  is  to  be  set  in  motion  ;  a  rela- 
tion which  can  only  be  understood  by  a  careful  study  of  the  ma- 
chinery itself.  If  it  is  a  sort  of  machinery  which  manifests  its 
energies  in  acts  of  observation,  perception,  reflection,  and  remember- 
ing, and  depends  for  its  efficacy  upon  attention,  he  must  study  these 
phenomena  subjectively  in  relation  to  his  own  conscious  experi- 
ence, and  objectively  as  exhibited  in  the  experience  of  others. 
Regarding,  further,  this  plexus  of  energies  as  connected  with  a 
base  to  which  we  give  the  name  of  mind,  he  must  proceed  to  study 
the  nature  of  the  mind  in  general,  and  especially  note  the  manner 
in  which  it  acts  in  the  acquisition  of  ideas.  This  study  will  bring 
him  into  acquaintance  with  certain  principles  or  laws  which  are  to 
guide  and  control  his  future  action.  The  knowledge  thus  gained 
will  constitute  his  initiation  into  the  Science  and  Art  of  Education. 
The  Science  or  Theory  of  Education  then  is  seen  to  consist  in  a 
knowledge  of  those  principles  of  Psychology,  which  account  for 
the  processes  by  which  the  mind  gains  knowledge.  It  therefore 
serves  as  a  test,  by  which  the  Art  or  Practice  of  Education  may 
be  tried.  All  practices  which  are  not  in  accordance  with  the 
natural  action  of  the  mind  in  acquiring  knowledge  for  itself  are 
condemned  by  the  theory  of  Education,  and  in  this  predicament 
is  cramming,  which  consists  in  forcing  into  the  mind  of  the  learner 
the  products  of  other  people's  thought.  Such  products  are  formulae, 
rules,  general  abstract  propositions,  definitions,  classifications, 
technical  terms,  common  words  even,  when  they  are  not  the  signs 
of  ideas  gained  at  first-hand  by  his  own  observation  and  percep- 
tion. The  Science  of  Education  recognizes  all  these  kinds  of 
knowledge  as  necessary  to  the  formation  of  the  mind ;  but  rele- 
gates them  to  their  proper  place  in  the  course  of  instruction,  and 
determines  that  that  place  is  subsequent  not  antecedent  to  the 
action  of  the  learner's  mind  on  the  facts  which  serve  as  their 
groundwork.  Facts,  then,  things,  material  objects,  natural  phe- 
nomena ;  physical  facts,  facts  of  language,  facts  of  nature,  are 
the  true,  the  all-sufficient  pabulum  for  the  youthful  mind,  and  the 
careful  study  and  investigation  of  them  at  first-hand,  through  his 
own  observation  and  experiment  are  to  constitute  his  earliest  initi- 

*  See  the  Author's  "  Lectures  on  the  Science  and  Art  of  Education." 


138     IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  TEACHER. 

ation  in  the  art  of  learning.  After  this  initiatory  practice,  which 
involves  analysis  and  disintegration,  come,  as  the  natural  sequence, 
the  processes  of  reconstruction  and  classification  of  the  elements 
obtained,  induction,  framing  of  definitions,  building  up  of  rules, 
generalization  of  particulars,  construction  of  formulae,  application 
of  technical  terms,  in  all  which  processes  the  art  of  the  teacher  as 
a  director  of  the  learner's  intellectual  efforts  is  manifestly  called 
into  exercise ;  and  the  need  of  his  own  experimental  knowledge 
of  the  processes  he  has  to  direct  is  too  obvious  to  require  to  be 
insisted  on. 

The  comprehensive  principle  here  enunciated,  which  regards  even 
the  learning  by  rote  of  the  multiplication  table  and  Latin  declen- 
sions, antecedently  to  some  preliminary  dealing  with  the  facts  of 
Latin  and  the  facts  of  number,  as  of  the  essence  of  cramming,  will 
be  theoretically  received  or  rejected  by  teachers  just  in  proportion 
as  they  receive  or  reject  the  conception  of  au  art  of  teaching 
founded  on  intellectual  principles.  It  is  obvious  enough  that 
cramming  knowledge  into  the  memory,  without  regard  to  its  fitness 
for  mental  digestion,  if  an  art  at  all,  is  an  art  of  a  very  low  order, 
and  has  little  in  common  with  that  which  consists  in  a  conscious 
appreciation  of  the  means  whereby  the  mind  'is  awakened  to  ac- 
tivity, and  its  energies  trained  to  independent  power.  The  teacher, 
in  fact,  in  the  one  case  is  an-artist,  scientifically  working  out  his 
design  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  his  art,  and  ready  to 
apply  all  its  resources  to  the  emergencies  of  practice  ;  in  the  other 
case,  he  is  an  artisan  empirically  working  by  rule-of-thumb,  un- 
furnished with  principles  of  action,  and  succeeding,  when  he  suc- 
ceeds at  all,  through  the  happy  accident  that  the  pupil's  own 
intellectual  activity  practically  defeats  the  natural  tendency  of 
the  teacher's  mechanical  drill. 

I  do  not,  however,  by  any  means  pretend  to  assert  that  every 
teacher  who  declines  to  accept  this  notion  of  teaching  as  an  art,  is 
an  artisan.  It  often  happens  that  a  man  works  on  a  theory  which 
he  does  not  consciously  appreciate,  and  in  his  actual  practice 
obviates  the  objection  which  might  be  taken  against  some  of  his 
processes.  Hence  we  find  teachers,  while  denouncing  such  ex- 
pressions as  "  development  and  cultivation  of  the  intelligence  "  as 
"  frothy,"*  doing  practically  all  they  can  to  develop  and  cultivate 
the  intelligence  of  their  pupils.  Such  teachers  do  indeed  violently 
drive  "  the  goat"  into  the  stomach  of  their  pupils,  but  when  they 
have  got  it  there  take  great  pains  to  have  it  digested  in  some 

*  See  a  letter  in  the  "  Educational  Times,"  for  December,  1872,  from  the  Rev.  E.  Bodcn, 
Ilcad  Master  of  the  Clithuroe  Royal  Grammar  School. 


IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  TEACHER.     139 

fashion  or  other.  I  believe  that  the  process  would  be  much  facili- 
tated by  their  knowing  something  of  the  physiology  of  digestion, 
but  I  do  not  therefore  designate  such  practitioners  as  artisans. 
At  the  same  time  I  do  not  call  them  artists,  for  their  procedure 
violates  nature,  and  true  art  never  does  that.  The  epithet  artisan 
may  however  be  restricted  to  those  —  and  their  number  is  legion  — 
whose  practice  consists  of  cramming  pur  et  simple. 

On  the  whole,  then,  I  contend  that  if  we  could  examine  the  entire 
practice  of  those  teachers  who  actually  succeed  in  endowing  the 
large  majority  —  not  a  select  few  —  of  then*  pupils  with  sound  and 
systematic  knowledge,  and  with  well-informed  minds,  we  should 
find  that,  whatever  be  their  theoretic  notions,  they  have  worked  on 
the  principles  on  which  I  have  been  all  along  insisting.  They  have 
succeeded  by  the  development  and  cultivation  of  the  intelligence  of 
their  pupils,  and  by  nothing  else,  arid  they  have  succeeded  just  in 
proportion  as  they  have  consciously  kept  this  object  in  view.  Let  us 
hear  what  Dean  Stanley  tells  us  of  Arnold's  teaching.  "Arnold's 
whole  method  was  founded  on  the  principle  of  awakening  the 
intelligence  of  every  individual  boy.  Hence  it  was  his  practice  to 
teach,  not,  as  you  perceive,  by  downpouring,  but  by  questioning. 
As  a  general  rule  he  never  gave  information  except  as  a  reward  for 
an  answer,  and  often  withheld  it  altogether,  or  checked  himself  in 
the  very  act  of  uttering  it,  from  a  sense  that  those  whom  he  was 
addressing  had  not  sufficient  interest  or  sympathy  to  entitle  them  to 
receive  it.  His  explanations  were  as  short  as  possible,  enough  to 
dispose  of  the  difficulty  and  no  more,  and  his  questions  were  of  a 
kind  to  call  the  attention  of  the  boys  to  the  real  point  of  every 
.subject,  to  disclose  to  them  the  exact  boundaries  of  what  they  knew 
and  did  not  know,  and  to  cultivate  a  habit  not  only  of  collecting 
facts,  but  of  expressing  themselves  with  facility,  and  of  under- 
standing the  principles  on  which  these  facts  rested."  Such  was 
Arnold's  method  of  teaching ;  and  it  is  obvious  that  mutatis 
mutandis,  modified  somewhat  so  as  to  apply  to  the  earliest  elemen- 
tary instruction,  it  involves  all  the  principles  which  I  have  con- 
tended for,  as  constituting  the  true  art  of  teaching.  The  boys 
were,  in  fact,  teaching  themselves  under  the  direction  of  the 
teacher  without,  or  with  the  slightest,  explanation  on  his  part. 
They  were  using  all  their  minds  on  the  subject,  and  gain  ing  inde- 
pendent power.  Arnold,  to  use  a  famous  French  teacher's  expres- 
sion, was  "  laboring  to  render  himself  useless." 

But  I  must  draw  these  remarks  to  a  conclusion.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  for  me  to  state  formally  the  principles  for  which  I  have 
been  all  along  arguing. 


140  IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  TEACHER. 

The  upshot  is  this  —  Teaching  is  not  a  blind  routine  but  an  art, 
which  has  a  definite  end  in  view.  An  art  implies  an  artist  who 
works  by  systematic  rules.  The  processes  and  rules  of  art  ex- 
plicitly or  implicitly  evolve  the  principles  involved  in  science. 
The  art  or  practice  of  education,  therefore,  is  founded  on  the 
science  or  theory  of  education,  while  the  science  of  education  is 
itself  founded  on  the  science  of  mind  or  psychology.  The  com- 
plete equipment  and  training  of  the  teacher  for  his  profession 
comprehends  therefore :  — 

(a.)    A  knowledge  of  the  subject  of  instruction. 

(6.)    A  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  the  being  to  be  instructed. 

(c.)    A  knowledge  of  the  best  methods  of  instruction. 

This  knowledge  gained  by  careful  study  and  conjoined  with 
practice,  constitutes  the  training  of  the  teacher. 


APPENDIX. 

A  very  instructive  instance,  as  showing  the  popular  estimate  of  the 
"  qualifications  "  deemed  necessary  at  this  very  moment  for  the  equipment 
of  the  teacher,  was  recently  brought  forward  by  Mr.  Meiklejohn,  in  a  lec- 
ture delivered  at  the  College  of  Preceptors.  The  Principal  of  a  Ladies' 
College  required  the  assistance  of  a  Lady  Superintendent  to  take  charge  of 
the  educational  work  of  her  establishment.  In  reply  to  an  advertisement, 
in  -which  she  stated  the  duties  of  the  office  and  the  salary  offered  (one  hun- 
dred guineas  per  annum,  with  rooms  and  board)  she  received  about  nine 
hundred  letters.  In  her  perplexity  under  this  embarras  de  richesses,  Mr. 
Meiklejohn  offered  to  look  over,  and  report  upon  three  hundred  of  these 
epistles.  Ho  found,  as  the  result,  that  about  five  per  cent,  of  them  were 
"good  and  hopeful;"  while  the  remaining  ninety-five  percent,  "showed 
every  variety  of  incapacity  and  ignorance,  and  furnished  examples  of  every 
kind  of  sin  against  common  sense  and  the  English  language."  As  evidence 
on  this  last  point,  ho  quotes  numerous  instances  of  spelling ;  such  as 
"widdow,"  "affraid,"  "caricter,"  "responcible,"  "Bchollar,"  "  controle," 
"referrence,"  "exclent,"  "apoint  an  intervew,"  &c. ;  of  expression;  such 
as  "yrs  respectively,"  "quite  compitant  of  undertaking,"  "with  great 
kindness  to  young  people,  being  exceedingly  fond  of  the  above,"  "wishes 
to  resort  to  some  capacity  by  way  of  employment, "  &c. ;  and  of  ' '  qualifi- 
cations;" such  as  "can  refer  to  Cannons,"  "is  not  so  strong  in  the  chest 
as  she  used  to  be,"  "  has  gone  through  fever  and  small-pox  cases  very  suc- 
cessively," "  is  a  Baronness,"  "  is  the  widow  of  'a  Commercial,'  and  has 
four  small  children,"  "has  never  held  a  similar  post,  and  will  soon  bo 
thirty-five,"  "  has  had  experience  in  the  management  of  a  large  institution 
for  babies,"  "is  of  exceedingly  imposing  appearance,"  "at  present  fills  a 
situation  which  she  would  bo  happy  to  resign,"  "can  carve  well  and 
quickly,"  "can  make  nourishing  soups,  or  get  them  made,"  &c.,  &c.  It 
is  sad  to  conceive  of  nine  hundred  distressed  women  catching  thus  eagerly 
at  the  offer  of  the  salary,  but  even  more  sad,  in  the  interest  of  education 
itself,  to  think  of  the  mean  idea  they  must  have  entertained  of  what  is 
indicated  by  "educational  work." 


THEORIES  OF  TEACHING 


WITH  THEIR 


CORRESPONDING  PRACTICE. 


THEORIES  OF  TEACHING  WITH  THEIR 
CORRESPONDING  PRACTICE  * 


THERE  are,  as  we  know,  many  methods  of  teaching.  There  are, 
for  instance,  Ascham's,  Hamilton's,  and  Ollendorf's  method  of 
teaching  languages,  and  Pestalozzi's  and  Jacotot's  methods  of 
teaching  generally ;  there  are  the  methods  of  the  old  Grammar 
School,  and  those  of  the  Dame  Schools,  and  of  the  Kindergarten 
and  a  great  many  others.  Each  of  these  has  a  theory  which 
underlies  it  and  accounts  for  its  specialty.  Into  the  details,  how- 
ever, of  various  methods  I  am  not  about  to  enter ;  my  purpose  is 
the  more  general  one  of  endeavoring  to  ascertain  the  leading  spirit 
which  pervades  them  all,  independently,  for  the  most  part,  of  the 
details. 

A  little  consideration  of  the  subject,  will,  I  believe,  justify  us 
in  taking,  as  the  criterion  of  this  spirit,  the  aspect  under  which  we 
regard  the  relation  of  the  teacher  to  the  pupil,  and  of  both  to  their 
joint  work.  One  teacher  may  regard  the  communication  of  his 
own  ideas  to  his  pupil  as  his  proper  and  special  function,  and  their 
minds  as  a  sort  tabula  rasa,  on  which  he  has  to  write  himself. 
According  to  this  theory,  he  will  then  treat  them  merely  as  recipients, 
and  will  carefully  tell  them  what  they  ought  to  receive,  and  how 
they  ought  to  receive  it.  In  placing  facts  before  them,  he  will  tell 
them  what  conclusions  they  are  to  draw  from  them.  When  his 
pupils  commit  faults  he  will  correct  them  himself  even  though  no 
use  whatever  is  made  of  the  corrections  by  them.  He  will  be  so 
careful  that  the  pupil  should  not  go  wrong  that  he  will  continually 
interfere  with  his  free  action,  by  urging  him  to  aim  at  this  point 
and  avoid  that  —  in  short,  he  will  assume  that  the  ability  of  the 
pupil  to  observe,  compare,  reason,  think,  depends  almost  entirely 
upon  his  own  continual  telling,  showing,  explaining,  and  thinking 
for  him.  Such  a  teacher  evidently  has  a  mean  opinion  of  the 
pupil's  powers,  he  assumes  that  they  cannot  work  without  the 
constant  intervention  of  his  own,  and  considers  that  in  the  joint 

*  Read  at  a  meeting  of  the  Education  Department  of  the  Social  Science  Association, 
Monday,  April  26,  1869. 


144  THEORIES    OF    TEACHING 

operation  carried  on  by  himself  and  his  pupil,  he  takes,  and  ought 
to  take,  the  larger  share. 

Another  teacher  entertains  a  very  different  view  of  the  relation 
he  sustains  to  his  pupil.  He  sets  out,  indeed,  with  a  different  esti- 
mate of  the  pupil's  native  ability,  which  he  regards  as  competent 
to  observe  facts,  compare  them  together  and  draw  inferences  re- 
specting them  without  any  authoritative  interference  on  his  part. 
He  sees  this  native  faculty  at  work  in  daily  life,  and  therefore 
knows  that  it  can  be  employed  in  self-instruction.  He  trusts  in  it, 
therefore,  and  never  tells  the  pupil  what  he  can  find  out  for  him- 
self ;  he  does  not  superfluously  explain  relations  between  objects  or 
facts  which  explain  themselves  by  the  simple  juxtaposition  of  the 
objects  and  facts.  He  does  not  correct  blunders  which  almost  invari- 
ably arise  either  from  insufficient  knowledge  or  from  carelessness  :  in 
the  one  case  he  requires  the  pupil  to  gain  the  knowledge  required, 
or  leaves  the  blunder  for  subsequent  correction ;  in  the  other  he 
demands  more  attention,  and  expects  the  pupil  to  correct  his  own 
blunders.  He  feels  no  inordinate  anxiety  about  his  pupil's 
occasional  errors  of  judgment,  provided  that  his  mind  is  actively 
engaged  in  the  subject  under  instruction,  in  short,  seeing  that  the 
child  is  pursuing,  in  a  natural  way,  his  own  self-teaching,  he  is 
anxious  not  to  supersede  his  efforts  by  any  needless,  and  probably 
injurious,  interference  with  the  process.  He  judges,  therefore, 
that  in  the  joint  operation  referred  to  it  is  the  pupil  and  not  himself 
who  is  to  take  the  far  larger  share,  inasmuch  as  t!.e  pupil's  ulti- 
mate power  of  thinking  will  be  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  the  teacher's 
thinking  for  him. 

It  is  evident  that  these  different  conceptions  of  the  relation 
between  the  teacher  and  the  pupil  are  not  easily  reconcilable  with 
each  other,  and  that  the  practical  results  must  be  respectively  very 
different.  These  results  I  will  not  now  endeavor  to  estimate,  but 
address  myself  to  my  immediate  purpose,  which  is  to  maintain  the 
latter  theory,  and  to  show  that  learning  is  essentially  self-tuition, 
and  teaching  the  superintendence  of  the  process;  and,  in  short,  that 
compendiously  stated,  the  essential  function  of  the  teacher  con- 
sists in  helping  the  pupil  to  teach  himself. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  inquire  for  a  few  minutes  into  the 
exact  meaning,  as  fixed  by  etymological  considerations,  of  the 
words  learn  and  teach.  As  words  represent  ideas,  we  may  thus 
ascertain  what  conceptions  were  apparently  intended  to  be  repre- 
sented by  these  or  equivalent  symbols.  Now  it  does  seem  remark- 
able that,  in  European  languages  at  least,  to  learn  means  to  gather 


WITH  THEIR   CORRESPONDING   PRACTICE.  145 

or  glean  for  oneself  —  and  teach,  to  guide  or  superintend.  In  no 
case  that  I  am  aware  of  do  these  words  imply  a  correlation  of  re- 
ceptivity on  the  one  hand,  with  communicativeness  on  the  other.  A 
brief  reference  to  the  facts  will  be  sufficient  to  show  this.  I  take 
the  word  learn  first,  because  learning  must  precede  teaching. 
Learn,  in  the  earliest  form  of  our  language,  which  we  erroneously 
call  Anglo-Saxon  instead  of  Original  or  Primitive  English,  was 
leorn-ian,  a  derivative  of  the  simpler  form  la>r-an,  to  teach.  There 
is  reason  to  believe  that  the  longer  form  with  the  epenthetic  n  repre- 
sents a  class  of  words  once  not  uncommon  in  Gothic  languages, 
though  now  no  longer  recognized  in  practice  —  I  mean  words 
endued  in  themselves  with  the  functions  of  reflective  or  passive 
verbs.  Thus,  in  Moeso-Gothic,  we  have  lukan,  to  shut  or  lock  up, 
lukn-an,  to  lock  oneself  up,  or  to  be  locked  up  ;  wak-an,  to  wake 
another,  wakn-an,  to  wake  oneself,  to  be  awake.  "We  have  the 
corresponding  awake  and  awaken  ourselves.  If  this  analogy  be 
correct^  then  leorn-ian,  as  connected  with  Icer-an,  to  teach,  means 
to  teach  oneself,  i.  e.,  to  learn.  As,  however,  the  director  of  a 
work  often  gets  the  credit  due  to  his  subaltern,  so  the  person  who 
directed  his  pupil  to  do  his  work  of  teaching  himself  was  formerly 
said  —  and  the  usage  still  exists  —  to  learn  or  larn  the  pupil.  In 
nearly  all  European  languages,  this  double  force  of  the  word  is 
found.  Three  hundred  years  ngo  even  it  was  unquestionably  good 
English  to  say,  as  Cranmer  does  in  his  version  of  the  Psalter  — 
"  Lead  me  forth  in  thy  truth  and  learn  me,"  and  as  Shakespeare 
does  in  the  person  of  Caliban  —  "  the  red  plague  rid  you  for  learn- 
ing me  your  language."  But  what  does  the  original  root  leer 
moan  ?  It  is  evidently  equivalent  to  the  Moeso-Gothic  lais  or  les ; 
s  being  interchangeable  with  r,  as  we  see  in  the  Latin,  arbos,  arbor 
and  in  the  German,  eisen,  compared  with  our  iron.  But  the  Moeso- 
Gothic  lais  or  les  is  identical  with  the  German,  les  or  lesen,  and 
means  to  pluck,  gather,  acquire,  read,  learn,  and  we  have  still  a 
trace  of  it  in  our  provincial  word  leasing  —  gleaning  or  gathering 
up.  The  primitive  meaning  then  of  the  root  ?cer,  of  our  original 
English  must  have  been  the  same  as  that  of  the  Mtrso-Gothic  les, 
though,  for  reasons  already  referred  to,  the  causative  sense  to 
make  to  gather,  acquire  or  learn,  must  have  been  very  early  super- 
added.  On  the  whole,  then,  it  appears  sufficiently  clear  that  to 
leam  is  to  gather  or  glean  for  oneself  —  i.  e.,  to  teach  oneself. 
But  the  correlative  teach  also  requires  a  moment's  consideration. 
This  is  derived  from,  or  equivalent  to,  the  original  P^nglish,  tcec  or 
tcech  (in  teec-an  or  taech-an),  to  the  German,  zeig  (in  zeigen),  to 


146  THEORIES   OF  TEACHING, 

the  Moeso-Gothic  tech  (in  techo.n),  to  the  Latin  doc  (in  docere},  or 
die  in  di(e)scere  (of  which  the  ordinary  form  is  discere)  and  to  the 
Greek  8«/c  (in  BeiKwp.t).  This  common  root  means  to  show,  point 
out,  direct,  lead  the  way.  The  same  idea  is  conveyed  by  the  French 
equivalents  montrer  and  enseigner,  both  meaning,  as  we  know,  to 
teach. 

The  etymology,  then,  in  both  instances  supports  the  theory  that 
learning  is  gathering  up  or  acquiring  for  onself,  and  teaching,  the 
guiding,  directing,  or  superintending  of  that  process. 

The  pupil,  then,  by  this  theory  is  to  advance  by  his  own  efforts, 
to  work  for  himself,  to  learn  for  himself,  to  think  for  himself  ;  and 
the  teacher's  function  is  to  consist  mainly  in  earnest  and  sympa- 
thizing direction.  He  is  to  devote  his  knowledge,  intelligence, 
virtue,  and  experience  to  that  object.  He  has  himself  travelled 
the  road  before  which  he  and  his  }*oung  companion  are  to  travel 
together ;  he  knows  its  difficulties,  and  can  sympathize  with  the 
struggles  which  must  be  made  against  them.  He  will  therefore 
endeavor  to  gain  his  pupil's  confidence,  by  entering  into  them,  and 
by  suggesting  adequate  motives  for  exertion  when  he  sees  the 
needful  courage  failing.  He  will  encourage  and  animate  every 
honest  and  manful  effort  of  his  pupil,  but,  remembering  that  he  is 
to  be  a  guide  and  not  a  bearer,  he  will  not  even  attempt  to  super- 
sede that  labor  and  exercise  which  constitute  the  value  of  the  dis- 
cipline to  the  pupil,  which  he  cannot  take  upon  himself  without 
defeating  the  very  end  in  view. 

It  is  worth  while  here  to  meet  a  plausible  objection  which  has 
been  taken  against  this  view  of  the  teacher's  function.  If,  it  is 
said,  the  pupil  really  after  all  learns  by  himself  without  the  inter- 
vention of  the  teacher's  mind  in  the  process  —  though  the  inter- 
vention of  his  moral  influence  is  strenuously  insisted  on  —  then  this 
superintendent  of  other  people's  efforts  to  gain  knowledge  may 
really  have  none  himself ;  this  director  of  machinery  may  know 
nothing  of  mechanics.  This  objection  is  pertinent  and  deserves 
attention.  It  is  obvious  that  the  teacher  who  is  really  able  to  enter 
into  his  pupil's  difficulties  in  learning  effectively  ought  to  be  well 
furnished  with  knowledge  and  experience.  Knowledge  of  the 
subject  under  instruction  is  to  be  required  of  the  teacher,  both 
because  the  recognized  possession  of  it  gives  him  weight  and 
influence,  and  because  the  possession  of  a  large  store  of  well- 
digested  knowledge  is  itself  distinct  evidence  that  its  owner  has 
gone  through  a  course  of  healthful  mental  discipline,  and  is  on  that 
ground  —  other  things  being  equal  —  a  fit  and  proper  person  to 


WITH   THEIR   CORRESPONDING   PRACTICE.  147 

superintend  those  who  are  going  through  the  same  discipline. 
Knowledge  also  of  a  special  kind  he  ought  to  have  —  that  derived 
from  thoughtful  study,  accompanied  by  practice,  of  the  machinery 
which  he  is  to  direct.  He  is  not,  by  the  assumption,  himself  an 
essential  part  of  it,  but  as  an  overlooker  or  engineer  he  certainly 
ought  to  be  acquainted  with  its  nature  and  construction,  so  as  to 
be  able  to  estimate  its  working  power,  and  to  know  when  to  start 
and  when  to  stop  ,it,  to  prevent  both  inaction  and  overaction.  A 
teacher,  then,  without  some  knowledge  of  psychology,  gained  both 
systematically  and  by  experience  and  observation,  could  hardly 
be  considered  as  fully  equipped  for  his  work.  But  I  need  not 
dwell  further  on  this  point,  though  I  could  not  well  leave  it  un- 
noticed. 

It  appears,  then,  that  the  teacher  of  a  pupil  who  teaches  himself 
will  find  quite  enough  to  do  in  his  work  of  superintendence  and 
sympathy.  It  is  only  as  far  as  the  mental  process  of  learning  that 
the  pupil  is  in  any  sense  independent  of  him. 

I  do  not  profess  to  describe  in  philosophic  terms  what  the  mental 
process  which  we  call  learning  really  is,  but  it  is  necessary  for  my 
argument  to  maintain  that  whatever  it  is,  it  can  no  more  be  per- 
formed by  deputy  than  eating,  drinking,  or  sleeping,  and  further, 
that  every  one  engaged  in  performing  it  is  really  teaching  himself. 
If,  then,  the  views  I  have  suggested  of  the  relation  between  the 
teacher  and  the  learner  be  generally  correct,  and  the  latter  really 
learns  by  teaching  himself,  it  would  follow  that  if  we  could  only 
ascertain  his  method  as  a  learner,  we  should  obtain  the  true  ele- 
ments of  ours  as  teachers ;  or  in  other  words,  that  true  principles 
of  the  art  of  teaching  would  be  educed  from  those  involved  in  the 
art  of  learning,  though  the  converse  is  by  no  means  true. 

The  establishment  of  these  principles  would  furnish  us  with  a 
test  of  the  real  value  of  some  of  the  practices  in  current  use 
amongst  teachers,  and  perhaps  help  to  lay  the  foundation  of  that 
teaching  of  the  future,  which  will,  as  I  believe,  identify  self- 
tuition,  under  competent  guidance,  with  the  scientific  method  of 
investigation. 

But  I  must  endeavor  to  enlarge  the  field  of  inquiry,  and  show 
that  self-tuition  under  guidance  is  the  only  possible  method  in  the 
acquirement  of  that  elementary  instruction  which  is  the  common 
property  of  the  whole  human  race.  Long  before  the  teacher,  with 
his  apparatus  of.  books,  maps,  globes,  diagrams,  and  lectures, 
appears  in  the  field,  the  child  has  been  pursuing  his  own  education 
under  the  direction  of  a  higher  teacher  than  any  of  those  who  bear 


148  THEORIES   OF   TEACHING, 

the  technical  name.  He  has  been  learning  the  facts  and  pheno- 
mena which  stand  for  words  and  phrases  in  the  great  book  of 
Nature,  and  has  also  learned  some  of  the  conventional  signs  by 
which  those  facts  and  phenomena  are  known  in  his  mother- 
tongue. 

As  my  general  proposition  is  that  the  art  of  teaching  should 
be,  as  far  as  possible,  founded  on  those  processes  by  which 
Nature  teaches  those  who  have  no  other  teacher  —  those  who  learn 
by  themselves  —  it  is  important  to  glance  at  a  few  of  these  pro- 
cesses. 

Nature's  earliest  lessons  consist  in  teaching  her  pupils  the  use 
of  their  senses.  The  infant,  on  first  opening  his  eyes,  probably 
sees  nothing.  A  glare  of  light  stimulates  the  organ  of  sight,  but 
makes  no  distinct  impression  upon  it.  In  a  short  time,  however, 
the  light  reflected  from  the  various  objects  around  him  impinges 
with  more  or  less  force,  upon  the  eye  and  impresses  upon  it  the 
images  of  things  without,  the  idea  of  the  image  is  duly  transferred 
to  the  mind  —  and  thus  the  first  lesson  in  seeing  is  given. 

This  idea  of  form,  is,  however,  complex  in  its  character,  which 
arises  from  the  fact  that  the  objects  presented  to  his  attention  are 
wholes  or  aggregates.  He  learns  to  recognize  them  in  the  gross 
before  he  knows  them  in  detail.  He  has  no  choice  but  to  learn 
them  in  this  way.  No  child  ever  did  learn  them  in  any  other  way. 
Nature  presents  him  with  material  objects  and  facts,  or  things 
already  made  or  done.  She  does  not  invite  him,  in  the  first 
instance,  before  he  knows  in  a  general  way  the  whole  object,  to 
observe  the  constituent  parts,  nor  the  manner  in  which  the  parts 
are  related  to  the  whole.  She  never,  in  condescension  to  his 
weakness  of  perception,  separates  the  aggregate  in  its  component 
elements  —  never  presents  these  elements  to  his  consideration  one 
by  one.  In  short,  she  ignores  altogether  in  her  earliest  lessons  the 
synthetical  method,  and  insists  on  his  employing  only  the  analytical. 
As  a  student  of  the  analytical  method  he  proceeds  with  his  investi- 
gations, observing  resemblances  and  differences,  comparing,  con- 
trasting, and  to  some  extent  generalizing  (and  thus  using  the 
synthetical  pi-ocess) ,  until  the  main  distinctions  of  external  forms 
are  comprehended,  and  their  more  important  parts  recognized  as 
distinct  entities,  to  be  subsequently  regarded  themselves  as  wholes 
and  decomposed  into  their  constituent  parts.  Thus  the  child  goes 
on  with  Nature  as  his  teacher,  learning  to  read  for  himself  and  by 
himself  the  volume  she  spreads  out  before  him,  mastering  first  some 


WITH   THEIR  CORRESPONDING   PRACTICE.  149 

of  it8  sentences,  then  its  phrases  and  words,  and  lastly,  a  few  of 
its  separate  letters. 

So  with  regard  to  the  physical  properties  of  objects  as  distin- 
guished from  their  mechanical  divisions  or  parts.  What  teacher 
but  Nature  makes  the  child  an  embryo  experimental  philosopher  ? 
It  is  she  who  teaches  him  to  teach  himself  the  difference  between 
hard  and  soft,  bitter  and  sweet,  hot  and  cold.  He  lays  hold  of 
objects  within  his  reach,  conveys  them  to  his  mouth,  knocks  them 
against  the  table  or  floor,  and  by  performing  such  experiments 
incessantly  gratifies,  instructs,  and  trains  the  senses  of  sight,  touch, 
taste,  smelling,  and  hearing.  At  one  time  a  bright  and  most 
attractive  object  is  close  at  hand.  It  looks  beautiful,  and  he  won- 
ders what  it  can  be.  Nature  whispers,  "Find  out  what  it  is. 
Touch  it."  He  puts  his  fingers  obediently  into  the  flame,  burns 
them,  and  thus  makes  an  experiment,  and  gains  at  the  same  time 
an  important  experience  in  the  art  of  living.  He  does  not,  how- 
ever, feel  quite  certain  that  this  may  not  be  a  special  case  of  bad 
luck.  He  therefore  tries  again,  and  of  course  with  the  same 
result.  And  now,  reflecting  maturely  on  what  has  taken  place, 
he  begins  to  assume  that  not  only  the  flame  already  tried,  but  all 
flames  will  burn  him  —  and  thus  dimly  perceiving  the  relation 
between  cause  and  effect,  he  is  already  tracking,  though  slowly 
and  feebly,  the  footsteps  of  the  inductive  philosophy.  Even 
earlier  in  life  —  as  soon,  indeed,  as  he  was  born, -as  Professor 
Tyndall  remarks  —  urged  by  the  necessity  of  doing  something  for 
his  living,  he  improvised  a  suction-pump,  and  thus  showed  him- 
self to  be,  even  from  his  birth,  a  student  of  practical  science. 

These  instances  will  serve  to  show  that  Nature's  earliest  lessons 
are  illustrations  of  the  theory,  that  teaching  essentially  consists 
in  aiding  the  pupil  to  teach  himself.  The  child's  method  of  learn- 
ing is  evidently  self-tuition  under  guidance,  and  nothing  else. 
He  learns,  i.  e.,  gathers  up,  acquires,  knows  a  vast  number  of 
facts  relating  to  things  about  him  ;  and,  moreover,  by  imitation 
solely,  he  gains  a  practical  acquaintance  with  the  arts  of  walking, 
seeing,  hearing,  &c.  Who  has  taught  him  ?  Nature  —  himself— 
practically  the}-  are  one.  In  the  ordinary  sense,  indeed,  of  the 
word  teaching,  Nature  has  not  taught  him  at  all.  She  has  given 
him  no  rules,  no  laws,  no  abstract  principles,  no  formulae,  no 
grammar  of  hearing,  seeing,  walking,  or  talking  ;  she  simply  gave 
the  faculty,  supplied  the  material,  and  the  occasion  for  its  exer- 
cise, and  her  pupil  learnt  to  do  by  doing.  This  is  what  Nature, 
the  teacher,  the  guide,  the  directrix,  did.  But  something  more 


150  THEORIES   OF   TEACHING, 

she  did,  or  rather  in  her  wisdom  left  undone.  When  her  pupil, 
through  carelessness  and  heedlesness,  failed  to  see  what  was 
before  him,  when  he  blundered  in  his  walking  or  talking,  she 
neither  interposed  to  correct  his  blunders,  nor  indulged  in  outcries 
and  objurgations  against  him.  She  bided  her  opportunity.  She 
went  on  teaching,  he  went  on  learning,  and  the  blunders  were  in 
time  corrected  by  the  pupil  himself.  Even  when  he  was  about  to 
burn  his  fingers,  it  was  no  part  of  her  plan  to  hinder  him  from 
learning  the  valuable  lessons  taught  by  the  ministry  of  pain. 
Perhaps  in  these  respects,  as  well  as  in  so  many  others,  teachers 
of  children  might  learn  something  from  the  example  of  their  great 
Archididascalos. 

But  it  will  be  objected  that  Nature's  wise,  authoritative  teach- 
ing can  be  no  guide  for  us.  She  teaches  by  the  law  of  exigency, 
and  her  pupil  must  perforce  learn  whether  he  will  or  not.  In  the 
society  in  which  we  live  there  is  no  such  imperative  claim,  and 
the  teacher,  who  appears  as  Nature's  deputy,  can  neither  wield 
her  authority  nor  adopt  her  methods.  In  reply  to  this  objection 
it  may  be  urged  that  Society's  claims  upon  her  members  are 
scarcely  less  imperative  than  Nature's,  and  that  the  deputy  can, 
and  ought  to,  act  out  his  superior's  principles  of  administration. 

Suppose  then,  for  instance,  that  Society  requires  that  a  child 
should  learn  to  read.  In  this  case,  certainly,  Nature  will  not 
intervene  to  secure  that  special  instruction,  but  the  method  adopt- 
ed by  her  deputy  may  be,  and  ought  to  be,  founded  on  here. 
Every  principle  of  Nature's  teaching  is  violated  in  the  ordinary 
plan  of  commencing  with  the  alphabet.  Nature,  as  I  have  already 
said  or  implied,  sets  no  alphabet  whatever  before  her  pupil ;  nor 
is  there  in  the  teaching  of  Nature  anything  that  even  suggests 
such  a  notion  as  learning  A,  B,  C.  Nature's  teaching,  it  cannot 
be  too  frequently  repeated,  is,  at  first  analytical,  not  synthetical, 
and  the  essence  of  it  is  that  the  pupil  makes  the  analysis  himself. 

Our  ordinary  teacher,  however,  in  defiance  of  Nature,  com- 
mences his  instructions  in  the  art  of  reading  with  A,  B,  C,  pointing 
out  each  letter,  and  at  the  same  time  uttering  a  sound  which  the 
child  is  expected  to  consider  as  the  sound  always  to  be  associated 
with  that  sign.  At  length,  after  many  a  groan,  the  alphabet  is 
learned  perfectly  and  the  teacher  proceeds  to  the  combinations. 
He  points  to  a  word,  and  the  pupil  says,  letter  by  letter,  bee-a-tee, 
and  then,  naturally  enough,  comes  to  a  dead  stop.  His  work  is 
done.  Neither  he  nor  Sir  Isaac  Newton  in  his  prime,  could  take 
the  next  unexpected  step  and  compound  these  elements  into  bat. 


WITH   THEIR   CORRESPONDING   PRACTICE.  151 

The  sphynx  who  proposes  the  riddle  may  indeed  look  menacingly 
for  the  answer,  but  by  no  possible  chance  can  she  get  it.  The 
teacher  then  conies  to  the  rescue,  utters  the  sound  bat,  which  the 
child  duly  repeats,  and  thus  the  second  stage  iu  reading  is 
accomplished. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  only  rational  and  sensible  feature 
in  this  process  is  the  utterance  and  echo  of  the  sound  bat  in  view 
of  the  word  or  sign,  and  if  the  teacher  had  begun  with  this,  aud 
not  confused  the  child  by  giving  him  the  notion  that  he  was  learn- 
ing a  sound,  when  he  was  in  fact  learning  nothing  but  a  name, 
Nature  would  have  approved  of  the  lesson,  as  analagous  to  those 
given  by  herself.  She  might  also  have  asked  the  teacher  to  notice 
that  the  child  learns  to  speak  by  hearing  and  using  whole 
words.  Nobody  addresses  him  as  bee-a-bee-wy,  nor  does  he  say 
em-a-em-em-a.  He,  in  fact,  deals  with  aggregates,  compares 
them  together,  exercises  the  analytical  faculty  upon  them,  and 
employs  the  constituent  elements  which  he  thus  obtains  in  ever  new 
combinations  There  can  be  no  doubt,  then,  that  the  child  learns 
to  speak,  by  imitation,  analysis,  and  practice.  Why  not,  then, 
says  Nature,  let  him  learn  reading  in  the  same  way  ?  Let  him  in 
view  of  entire  words  echo  the  sound  of  them  received  from  the 
teacher ;  let  him  learn  them  thoroughly  as  wholes,  let  him  by 
analysis  separate  them  into  their  syllables,  and  the  S3'llables  into 
their  letters,  and  it  will  be  found  that  the  phonic  faculty  of  the 
compound  leads  surely  and  easily  to  that  of  its  separate  parts. 
The  fact  that  our  orthography  is  singularly  anomalous  is  an  argu- 
ment for,  rather  than  against,  the  adoption  of  this  plan  of  teach- 
ing to  read. 

In  pursuing  this  only  natural  method  of  instruction  we  notice 
that  the  pupil  frequently  repeats  the  same  process,  going  over  and 
over  the  same  ground  until  he  has  mastered  it,  and  as  in  learning 
to  walk  he  often  stumbled  before  he  walked  freely,  and  iu  learning 
to  talk  often  blundered  and  stammered  before  he  used  his  tongue 
readily,  so  while  learning  to  read  in  Nature's  school,  he  will  make 
many  a  fruitless  attempt,  be  often  puzzled,  often  for  awhile  miss 
his  path,  yet  all  the  while  he  is  correcting  his  errors  by  added 
knowledge  and  experience,  sharpening  his  faculties  by  practice, 
teaching  himself  by  his  own  active  efforts,  and  not  receiving 
passively  the  explanations  of  others  ;  deeply  interested  too  in  dis- 
covering for  himself  that  which  he  would  be  even  disgusted  with 
if  imposed  upon  by  dogmatic  authority,  he  is  trained,  even  from 
the  very  beginning,  in  the  method  of  investigation.  I  cannot  but 


152  THEORIES  OF  TEACHING 

look  upon  him  as  illustrating  faithfully  and  fairly  in  his  practice 
the  theory  that  learning  is  self-tuition  under  competent  guidance, 
and  that  teaching  is,  or  ought  to  be,  the  superintendence  of  the 
process. 

Did  time  permit  I  could  give  many  illustrations  of  the  interest 
excited,  and  the  efficiency  secured,  by  this  method  of  teach- 
ing reading.  For  example,  I  have  seen  and  heard  children 
earnestly  petitioning  to  be  allowed  to  pursue  their  lessons  in  read- 
ing, after  a  short  experience  of  it,  by  what  they  called  the  "  find- 
ing out  plan."  It  was  known  to  me  more  than  forty  years  ago,  as 
a  part  of  Jacotot's  once  renowned  "  Enseignement  Universel," 
and  I  then  put  it  to  the  severest  test.  It  is  also  substantially  con- 
tained in  Mr.  Curwen's  "  Look  and  Say  Method,"  in  the  little 
book  entitled  "  Reading  without  Spelling,  or  the  Scholar's  Delight," 
and  in  articles  by  Mr.  Dunning  and  Mr.  Baker,  of  Doncaster,  iu 
the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Education  for  1834.  A  natural  method, 
like  others,  requires  of  course  to  be  judiciously  directed,  and  the 
teacher's  especial  duty  is  in  this,  as  in  other  methods,  to  maintain 
the  interest  of  the  lesson,  and  above  all,  to  get  the  pupil,  however 
young  he  may  be,  to  think;  especially  as,  according  to  the  prin- 
ciples already  laid  down,  it  is  rather  the  pupil  who  learns  than  the 
master  who  teaches.  As  a  case  in  point  I  quote  a  passage  from 
the  life  of  Lord  Byron.  Speaking  of  a  school  he  was  in  when  five 
years  of  age,  he  says,  "  I  learned  little  there  except  to  repeat  by 
rote  the  first  lesson  of  monosyllables,  *  God  made  man,  let  us  love 
him,  &c.,'  by  hearing  it  often  repeated  without  acquiring  a  letter. 
Whenever  proof  was  made  of  my  progress  at  home,  1  repeated 
these  words,  with  the  most  rapid  fluency,  but  on  turning  over  a 
new  leaf,  I  continued  to  repeat  them,  so  that  the  narrow  bounda- 
ries of  my  first  year's  accomplishments  were  detected,  my  ears 
boxed  (which  they  did  not  deserve,  seeing  that  it  was  by  ear  only 
that  I  had  acquired  my  letters) ,  and  my  intellects  consigned  to  a 
new  preceptor."  This  case,  however,  proves  only  that  Byron  had 
not  been  directed  in  teaching  himself,  and  that  he  was  not  a  pupil 
of  the  analytical  method.  His  mind  had  taken  no  cognizance  of 
the  acquisitions  which  he  had  mechanically  made. 

Another  instance,  much  more  to  the  point,  is  supplied  in  n  pas- 
sage which  I  extracted  many  years  ago  from  a  Report  of  the 
Gaelic  School  Society,  and  which  contains  a  most  valuable  lesson 
for  the  teachers  of  reading.  "  An  elderly  female  in  the  parish  of 
Edderton  was  most  anxious  to  read  the  Scriptures  in  her  native 
tongue.  She  did  not,  even  know  the  alphabet,  and  of  course  she 


WITH  THEIR   CORRESPONDING   PRACTICE.  153 

began  with  the  letters.  Long  and  zealously  she  strove  to  acquire 
these,  and  finally  succeeded.  She  was  then  put  into  the  syllable 
class,  in  which  she  continued  some  time,  but  made  so  little  progress 
that,  with  a  breaking  heart,  she  retired  from  the  school.  The 
clergyman  of  the  parish,  on  being  made  acquainted  with  these 
circumstances,  advised  the  teacher  to  send  for  her  again,  and  in- 
stead of  trying  her  with  syllables,  to  which  she  could  attach  no 
meaning,  to  give  her  the  sixth  Psalm  at  once.  This  plan  suc- 
ceeded to  admiration :  and  when  the  school  was  examined  by  a 
committee  of  presbytery,  she  read  the  thirty-seventh  Psalm  in  a 
manner  that  astonished  all  present."  Whether  this  important  dis- 
covery —  for  it  was  nothing  less  —  was  made  practically  available 
in  the  teaching  of  the  parish  of  Edderton  I  do  not  know ;  but  I 
should  not  be  surprised  to  find  that  the  good  old  A,  B,  C,  and  the 
cabalistical  b-a,  ba ;  b-e,  be,  —  in  which  Dr.  Andrew  Bell  gravely 
tells  us  "the  sound  is  an  echo  to  the  sense!"  —  is  still  going  on 
there  as  at  the  beginning. 

I  have  detained  you  long  over  the  practical  illustration  contained 
in  the  method  of  teaching  to  read,  because  it  really  is  a  complete 
application  of  the  theory  which  I  advocate,  and  involves  such 
principles  as  these  which  I  state  with  the  utmost  brevity  for  want 
of  time  :  — 

1.  The  pupil,  teaching  himself,  begins  with  tangible  and  con- 

crete facts  which  he  can  comprehend,  not  with  abstract 
principles  which  he  cannot. 

2.  He  employs  a  method  —  the  analytical  —  which  lies  in  his 

own  power,  not  the  synthetical,  which  mainly  requires  ap- 
plication ab  extra. 

3.  His  early  career  is  not  therefore  impeded  by  needless  pre- 

cepts, and  authoritative  dogmas. 

4.  He  learns  to  become  a  discoverer  and  explorer  on  his  own 

account,  and  not  merely  a  passive  recipient  of  the  results 
of  other  people's  discoveries. 

5.  He  takes  a  degree  of  pleasure  in  the  discoveries  or  acquisi- 

tions made  by  himself,  which  he  cannot  take  in  those  made 
by  others. 

6.  In  teaching  himself  he  proceeds  —  he  can  only  proceed  —  in 

proportion  to  his  strength,  and  is  not  perplexed  and  en- 
cumbered by  explanations,  which,  however  excellent  in 
themselves,  may  not  be  adapted  —  generally  are  not 
adapted  —  to  the  actual  state  of  his  mind. 

7.  He  consequently  proceeds  from  the  known  to  the  unknown. 


154  THEORIES   OF   TEACHING, 

8.  The  ideas  that  he  thus  gains  will,  as  natural  sequences  of 

those  already  gained  by  the  same  method,  be  clear  and  pre- 
cise as  far  as  they  go,  his  knowledge  will  be  accurate, 
though  of  course  very  limited,  because  it  is  his  own. 

9.  By  teaching  himself,  and  relying  on  his  own  powers  in  a 

special  case,  he  acquires  the  faculty  of  teaching  himself 
generally  —  a  faculty  the  value  of  which  can  hardly  be 
overrated. 

If  these  principles  are  involved  in  the  methoTl  of  self-tuitioii 
they  necessarily  define  the  measure  and  limit  of  the  teacher's 
function,  and  show  us  what  the  art  of  teaching  ought  to  be.  They 
seem  also  to  render  it  probable  that  much  that  goes  under  the  name 
of  teaching  rather  hinders  than  helps  the  self-teaching  of  the  pupil. 
The  assumption  of  the  pupil's  inability  to  learn  except  through  the 
manifold  explanations  of  the  teacher  is  inconsistent  with  this 
theory,  nor  less  so  is  the  universal  practice  of  making  technical 
definitions,  abstract  principles,  scientific  rules,  &c.,  form  so  large  a 
portion  of  the  pabulum  of  the  youthful  mind.  The  superintending 
teacher  by  no  means  however  despises  definitions,  principles  and 
rules,  but  he  introduces  them  when  the  pupil  is  prepared  for  them, 
and  then  he  gets  him  to  frame  them  for  himself.  The  self-teaching 
student  has  no  power  to  anticipate  the  time  when  these  deductions 
from  facts  —  for  such  they  all  ultimately  are  —  will,  by  the  natural 
course  of  mental  development,  take  their  proper  place  in  the  course 
of  instruction,  and  any  attempt  to  force  him  to  swallow  them 
merely  as  intellectual  boluses  prematurely  can  only  end  in  derange- 
ment of  the  digestive  organs.  His  mind  can  digest,  or  at  least 
begin  to  digest,  facts  which  he  sees  for  himself,  but  not  definitions 
and  rules  which  he  has  had  no  share  in  making.  He  cannot,  in 
the  nature  of  things,  assume  the  conclusions  of  others  drawn  from 
facts  of  which  he  is  ignorant  as  his  conclusions,  and  he  is  not 
therefore  really  instructed  by  passively  receiving  them. 

Those  who  take  a  different  view  from  this  of  teaching  some- 
times plead  that  inasmuch  as  rules  and  principles  are  compendious 
expressions  representing  many  facts,  the  pupil  does  in  learning 
them  economize  time  and  labor.  Experience  does  not,  however, 
support  this  view,  but  it  is  rather  against  it.  The  elementary 
pupil  cannot,  if  he  would,  comprehend  for  instance  the  metaphys- 
ical distinctions  and  definitions  of  grammar.  They  are  utterly 
unsuited  for  his  stage  of  development,  and  if  violently  intruded 
into  his  mind  they  cannot  be  assimilated  to  its  substance,  but  must 
remain  there  as  crude,  undigested  matter  until  the  sj'stem  is  pre- 


WITH  THEIR   CORRESPONDING   PRACTICE.  155 

pared  for  them.  When  that  time  arrives,  he  will  welcome  these 
compendious  generalizations  of  facts  which  when  prematurely 
offered  he  rejected  with  disgust.  Stuffing  a  pupil  with  ready- 
made  rules  and  formulae  may  perhaps  make  an  adept  in  cramming, 
but  is  cramming  the  be-all  and  end-all  of  education? 

But  I  must  furl  my  sails  and  make  for  land.  The  idea  which  1 
have  endeavored  to  give  of  the  true  relation  of  the  pupil  to  the 
teacher,  and  which  represents  the  former  as  carrying  on  his  own 
self-tuition  under  the  wise  superintendence  of  the  latter,  is  of  course 
not  new.  Nothing  strictly  new  can  be  said  about  education.  The 
elements  of  it  may  easily  be  found  in  the  principles  and  practice  of 
Ascham,  Montaigne,  Ratich,  Milton,  Comenius,  Locke,  Rousseau, 
Pestalozzi,  Jacotot,  and  Herbert  Spencer.  Those  who  are  inter- 
ested in  the  subject  may  find  an  account  of  the  views  and  methods 
of  these  eminent  men  in  Mr.  Quick's  valuable  little  book  on  Edu- 
cational Reformers.  All,  in  fact,  who  have  insisted  on  the  great 
importance  of  eliciting  the  pupil's  own  efforts  and  not  supersed- 
ing, enfeebling  and  deadening  them  by  too  much  telling  and 
explaining  —  all,  too,  who  have  urged  that  abstract  rules  and 
principles  should,  in  teaching,  follow,  not  precede,  the  examples 
on  which  they  are  founded,  have  virtually  adopted  the  theory 
which  I  have  endeavored  to  state  and  illustrate.  They  have,  in 
substance,  admitted  that  the  teacher's  function  is  defined  by  a  true 
conception  of  the  mental  operation  which  we  call  learning,  and 
that  that  operation  is  radically  and  essentially  the  work  of  the 
pupil,  and  cannot  be  performed  for  him. 

If  I  have  succeeded  at  all  in  the  development  of  my  theory, 
it  must  be  obvious  that  a  pupil  thus  trained  must  be  a  more  accu- 
rate observer,  a  more  skilful  investigator,  more  competent  to  deal 
with  subjects  of  thought  in  an  intelligent  way ;  in  a  word,  a  more 
awakened  thinker  than  one  trained  in  accordance  with  the  opposite 
theory.  The  process  he  goes  through  naturally  tends  to  make  him 
such,  and  to  prepare  him  to  appreciate  and  adopt  in  his  subsequent 
career  the  methods  of  science.  It  is  the  want  of  that  teaching 
which  comes  from  himself  that  makes  an  ordinary  pupil  the  slave 
of  technicalities  and  routine,  that  prevents  him  from  grappling 
with  a  common  problem  of  arithmetic  or  algebra  unless  he  happens 
to  remember  the  rule,  and  from  demonstrating  a  geometrical  propo- 
sition if  he  forgets  the  diagram  ;  which,  even  though  he  may  be  a 
scholar  of  Eton  or  Harrow,  leaves  him  destitute  of  power  to  deal 
at  sight  with  a  passage  of  an  easy  Greek  or  Latin  author.  In  the 
great  bulk  of  our  teaching,  with  of  course  many  and  notable 


156  THEORIES   OF   TEACHING, 

exceptions,  the  native  powers  of  the  pupil  are  not  made  the  most 
of  ;  and  hence  his  knowledge,  even  on  leaving  school,  is  too  gener- 
ally a  farrago  of  facts  only  partially  hatched  into  principles,  mingled 
in  unseemly  jumble  with  rules  scarcely  at  all  understood,  exceptions 
claiming  equal  rank  with  the  rules,  definitions  dislocated  from  the 
objects  they  define,  and  technicalities  which  clog  rather  than  facili- 
tate the  operations  of  the  mind. 

A  slight  exercise  of  our  memories,  and  a  slight  glance  at  the 
actual  state  of  things  amongst  us,  will,  I  believe,  witness  to  the 
substantial  truth  of  this  statement.  If,  however,  we  want  other 
testimony,  we  may  find  it  in  abundance  in  the  Reports  and  evidence 
of  the  four  Commissions  which  have  investigated  the  state  of  edu- 
cation amongst  us  ;  if  we  want  more  still,  we  may  be  supplied  — 
not,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  to  our  heart's  content,  but  discontent  —  in 
the  reports  of  intelligent  official  observers  from  abroad.  If  we 
want  more  still,  let  us  read  the  petitions  only  lately  presented  to 
the  House  of  Commons  from  the  highest  medical  authorities,  who 
complain  that  medical  education  is  rendered  abortive  and  impos- 
sible by  the  wholly  unsatisfactory  results  of  middle-class  teaching. 
Does  it  appear  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  such  a  chorus  of  dis- 
praise and  dissatisfaction  could  not  be  raised  unless  there  were 
something  in  the  methods  of  teaching  which  naturally  leads  to  the 
results  complained  of  ?  If  the  quality  of  the  teaching  —  I  am  not 
considering  the  quantity  —  is  not  responsible  for  the  quality  of  its 
results,  I  really  do  not  know  where  we  are  to  find  the  cause,  and 
failing  in  detecting  the  cause,  how  are  we  to  begin  even  our  search 
for  the  remedy  ?  Theories  of  teaching  which  distrust  the  pupil's 
native  ability,  which  iu  one  way  or  other  repress,  instead  of  aiding, 
the  natural  development  of  his  mind,  which  surfeit  him  with  tech- 
nicalities, which  impregnate  him  with  vague  infructuous  notions 
that  are  never  brought  to  the  birth,  that  cultivate  the  lowest  facul- 
ties at  the  expense  of  the  highest,  that  make  him  a  slave  of  the 
Rule-of-Thumb  instead  of  a  master  of  principles — are  these 
theories,  which  have  done  much  of  the  mischief,  to  be  still  relied 
on  to  supply  the  reform  we  need?  Or  shall  we  find,  at  least,  some 
of  the  germs  of  future  life  in  the  other  theory,  which  from  the  first 
confides  in,  cherishes,  and  encourages  the  native  powers  of  the 
child,  which  take  care  that  his  acquisitions,  however  small,  shall 
be  made  by  himself,  and  secures  their  possession  by  repetition  and 
natural  association,  which  invests  his  career  with  the  vivid  interest 
which  belongs  to  that  of  a  discoverer  and  explorer  of  unknown 
lauds,  which,  in  short,  to  adopt  the  striking  words  of  Burke,  iu- 


WITH   THEIR   CORRESPONDING  PRACTICE.  157 

x 

stead  of  serving  up  to  him  barren  and  lifeless  truths,  leads  him  to 
the  stock  on  which  they  grew,  which  sets  him  on  the  track  of  in- 
vention, and  directs  him  into  those  paths  in  which  the  great  authori- 
ties he  follows  made  their  own  discoveries  ?  Is  a  theory  which 
involves  such  principles,  and  leads  to  such  results,  worthy  the 
consideration  of  those  who  regard  education  as  pre-eminently  the 
civilizing  agent  of  the  world,  and  lament  that  England,  as  a 
nation,  is  so  little  fraught  with  its  spirit? 


THE 


SCIENCE  AND  ART  OF  EDUCATION. 


AN   INTRODUCTORY   LECTURE. 


[Delivered  at  the  College  of  Preceptors,  on  the  2Qth  of  January,  1874.] 


"Nous  avons  des  maitres  de  sciences;  nous  n'avons  pas  d'educateurs, 
d'hommes  qui  aient  fait  leur  etude  de  1'art  d'elever  les  enfants."  —  Charles 
Clavel. 


"  Because  our  understanding  cannot,  in  this  body,  found  itself  but  on 
sensible  things,  nor  arrive  so  clearly  to  the  knowledge  of  God  and  things 
invisible,  as  by  orderly  coming  over  the  visible  and  inferior  creature,  the 
same  method  is  necessarily  to  be  followed  in  all  discreet  teaching. "- 
MILTON,  Tractate  on  Education. 

"The  aim  of  Education  should  be  rather  to  teach  us  how  to  think,  than 
what  to  think ;  rather  to  improve  our  minds,  so  as  to  enable  us  to  think  for 
ourselves  than  to  load  the  memory  with  the  thoughts  of  other  men.  — DR. 
BEATTIE. 

"  G'est  dans  la  nature  de  1'enfance,  dans  ses  besoins,  dans  ses  aptitudes, 
dans  ses  gouts,  dans  les  exigences  de  la  vie  qui  commence  et  doit  grandir 
en  elle,  en  urt  mot,  qu'il  [the  author]  cherche  les  raisons  de  sa  preference 
ou  de  son  exclusion  pour  telle  ou  telle  etude,  telle  ou  telle  methode,  tel  ou 
tel  regime."  —  CHARLES  CLAVEL,  (Euvres  Diverges,  i.  55. 

' '  Instead  of  second-hand  knowledge  being  regarded  as  of  less  value  than 
first-hand  knowledge,  and  as  a  knowledge  to  be  sought  only  where  first-hand 
knowledge  cannot  be  had,  it  is  actually  regarded  as  of  greater  value.  .  .  . 
Reading  is  seeing  by  proxy  —  is  learning  indirectly  through  another  man's 
faculties  instead  of  directly  learning  through  one's  own  faculties ;  and  such 
is  the  prevailing  bias,  that  the  indirect  learning  is  thought  preferable  to  the 
direct  learning,  and  usurps  the  name  of  cultivation."  —  HERBERT  SPENCEB, 
The  Study  of  Sociology,  p.  364. 


PREFACE. 


THE  following  Lecture  was  delivered  at  the  College  of  Preceptors, 
Queen  Square,  Bloomsbury,  on  the  20th  of  January  last.  The 
Chair  was  taken  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Abbott,  Head  Master  of  the  City 
of  London  School.  In  the  course  of  his  remarks  at  the  close  of 
the  Lecture,  besides  expressing  his  general  sympathy  with  the  views 
I  had  brought  forward,  Dr.  Abbott  also  expressed  his  opinion  that 
there  was  a  certain  degree  of  novelty  in  the  plan  by  which  it  was 
proposed  that  the  Science  of  Education,  with  its  correlative  Art, 
should  be  studied  by  Teachers.  I  have  therefore  thought  it  worth 
while,  by  the  publication  of  the  Lecture,  to  give  those  who  are 
interested  in  Education  generally,  and  Teachers  especially,  an 
opportunity  of  forming  their  own  judgment  on  the  value  of  my 
theory  ;  and  in  order  to  furnish  them  with  some  idea  of  the  nature 
and  scope  of  the  "Training  Course  of  Lectures  and  Lessons  on 
the  Science,  Art,  and  History  of  Education,"  which  I  delivered 
last  year,  and  am  repeating  at  the  present  time,  I  subjoin  the 
"Syllabus." 

"The  object  of  the  entire  course  is  to  show  that  there  are 
Principles  of  Education,  on  which,  in  order  to  be  truly  efficient, 
Practice  must  be  founded  ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  there  is  a 
Science  of  Education,  in  reference  to  which  the  Art  must  be  con- 
ducted, and  the  value  of  its  processes  tested. 

"  In  the  First  Division  of  the  Course,  the  Science  of  Education 
will  be  built  up  on  an  investigation  into  the  nature  of  the  being 
to  be  educated,  and  into  the  phenomena  which  indicate  and  result 
in  bodily,  intellectual,  and  moral  growth.  This  investigation 
involves  an  analysis  of  the  organic  life  of  the  child,  beginning 
with  his  earliest  manifestations  of  Feeling,  Will,  and  Intellect. 
Such  manifestations  .are  the  result  of  external  agencies  which 
develop  the  child's  native  powers.  This  development  constitutes 
his  natural  education,  which,  as  being  carried  on  without  formal 
means  and  appliances,  resolves  itself  into  self-education.  The 


162  PEEFACE. 

principles  underlying  the  processes  by  which  the  child  is  stimulated 
to  educate  himself  constitute  the  Science  of  Natural  Education, 
which  is,  therefore,  the  model  or  type  of  Formal  Education. 

"  In  the  Second  Division  of  the  Course,  the  application  of  the 
principles  or  Science,  to  the  practice  or  Art  of  Education,  will  be 
treated,  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  their  strict  application  con- 
sidered, and  suggestions  offered  for  meeting  them.  The  educator 
will  be  shown  to  be  an  artist  accomplishing  his  end  through  scien- 
tific means.  The  ordinary  methods  of  general  education,  and 
those  of  teaching  different  subjects,  will  be  critically  examined,  and 
the  principles  involved  in  them  subjected  to  the  test  of  the  Science 
of  Education. 

"  In  the  Third  Division  of  the  Course,  a  sketch  of  the  History 
of  Education  from  the  earliest  times,  and  among  different  nations, 
will  be  given.  With  this  will  be  connected  a  detailed  account  of 
the  Theories  and  Methods  of  the  most  eminent  Writers  on  Edu- 
cation and  Teachers  in  all  ages  —  Aristotle,  Plato,  Quintilian, 
Erasmus,  the  Jesuits,  Ascham,  Ratich,  Comenius,  Locke,  Rousseau, 
Basedow,  Pestalozzi,  De  Fellenberg,  Jacotot,  Frobel,  Arnold, 
Herbert  Spencer,  &c.,  —  and  the  conformity  or  disagreement  of 
their  Theories  and  Methods  with  the  Scientific  principles  of  Edu- 
cation examined  and  appreciated." 

JOSEPH  PAYNE. 

4,  KILDARE  GARDENS,  W. ; 
Feb.  18th,  1874. 


THE  SCIENCE  AND  ART  OF  EDUCATION. 


AT  the  beginning  of  last  year  I  delivered,  in  this  room,  a  lecture 
intended  to  inaugurate  the  Course  of  Lectures  and  Lessons  on  the 
Science  and  Art  of  Education,  which  the  Council  of  the  College  of 
Preceptors  had  appointed  me  to  undertake.  The  experiment  then 
about  to  be  tried  was  a  new  one  in  this  country ;  for,  although  we 
have  had  for  some  years  Colleges  intended  to  prepare  Elementary 
Teachers  for  their  work,  nothing  of  the  kind  existed  for  Middle 
Class  and  Higher  Teachers.  As  I  stated  in  that  Inaugural  Lecture, 
the  Council  of  the  College  of  Preceptors,  after  waiting  in  vain 
for  action  on  the  part  of  the  Government  or  of  the  Universities,  and 
attempting,  also  in  vain,  to  obtain  the  influential  co-operation  of 
the  leading  scholastic  authorities  in  aid  of  then*  object,*  resolved 
to  make  a  beginning  themselves.  They  therefore  adopted  a  scheme 
laid  before  them  by  one  of  their  colleagues  —  a  lady  —  and  offered 
the  first  Professorship  of  the  Science  and  Art  of  Education 
to  me. 

"We  felt  that  some  considerable  difficulties  lay  in  the  way  of 
any  attempt  to  realize  our  intentions.  Among  these,  there  were 
two  especially  on  which  I  will  dwell  for  a  few  minutes.  The  first 
was,  the  opinion  very  generally  entertained  in  this  country,  that 
there  is  no  Science  of  Education,  that  is,  that  there  are  no  fixed 
principles  for  the  guidance  of  the  Educator's  practice.  It  is  gener- 
ally admitted  that  there  is  a  Science  of  Medicine,  of  Law,  of 
Theology ;  but  it  is  not  generally  admitted  that  there  is  a  corres- 
ponding Science  of  Education.  The  opinion  that  there  is  no  such 
Science  was,  as  we  know,  courageously  uttered  by  Mr.  Lowe,  but 
we  also  know  that  there  are  hundreds  of  cultivated  professional 
men  in  England,  who  silently  maintain  it,  and  are  practically  guided 
by  it.  These  men,  many  of  them  distinguished  proficients  in  the 

*  It  is  pleasant  to  record  the  interesting  fact,  that  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Head  Masters' 
Committee,  not  only  was  the  principle  of  a  special  professional  training  for  teachers  theoretic- 
ally admitted,  but  steps  taken  for  realizing  it.  The  effective  execution  of  this  design  will,  of 
course,  involve  a  study  of  the  Science  as  well  as  the  Art  of  Education. 


1G4  THE   SCIENCE   AND  ART   OF   EDUCATION. 

Art  of  teaching,  if  you  venture  to  suggest  to  them  that  there  must 
be  a  correlated  Science  which  determines  —  whether  they  are  con- 
scious of  it  or  not  —  the  laws  of  their  practice,  generally  by  a 
significant  smile  let  you  know  their  opinion  both  of  the  subject 
and  of  yourself.  If  they  deign  to  open  their  lips  at  all,  it  is  to 
mutter  something  about  "Pedagogy,"  "frothy  stuff,"  "mere 
quackery,"*  or  to  tell  you  point-blank  that  if  there  is  such  a 
Science,  it  is  no  business  of  theirs :  they  do  very  well  without  it. 
This  opinion,  which  they,  no  doubt,  sincerely  entertain,  is,  how- 
ever, simply  the  product  of  thoughtlessness  on  their  part.  If  they 
had  carefully  considered  the  subject  in  relation  to  themselves  —  if 
they  had  known  the  fact  that  the  Science  which  they  disclaim  or 
denounce  has  long  engaged  the  attention  of  hundreds  of  the  pro- 
fouudest  thinkers  of  Germany  —  many  of  them  teachers  of  at 
least  equal  standing  to  their  own  —  who  have  reverently  admitted 
its  pretensions,  and  devoted  their  great  powers  of  mind  to  the 
investigation  of  its  laws,  they  would,  at  least,  have  given  you  a 
respectful  hearing.  But  great,  as  we  know,  is  the  power  of  igno- 
rance, and  it  will  prevail  —  for  a  time.  There  are,  however,  even 
now,  hopeful  signs  which  indicate  a  change  of  public  opinion. 
Only  a  week  ago,  a  leader  in  the  Times  called  attention  to  Sir 
Bartle  Frere' s  conviction  expressed  in  one  of  his  lectures  in  Scot- 
land, that  "  the  acknowledged  and  growing  power  of  Germany  is 
intimately  connected  with  the  admirable  education  which  the  great 
body  of  the  German  nation  are  in  the  habit  of  receiving."  The 
education  of  which  Sir  Bartle  Frere  thus  speaks,  is  the  direct 
result  of  that  very  science  which  is  so  generally  unknown,  and 
despised,  because  unknown,  by  our  cultivated  men,  and  especially 
by  many  of  our  most  eminent  teachers.  When  this  educated 
power  of  Germany,  which  has  already  shaken  to  its  centre  the 
boasted  military  reputation  of  France,  does  the  same  for  our 
boasted  commercial  reputation,  as  Sir  Bartle  Frere  and  others 
declare  that  it  is  even  now  doing,  and  for  our  boasted  engineering 
reputation,  as  Mr.  Mundella  predicts  it  will  do,  unless  we  look 
about  us  in  time,  the  despisers  of  the  Science  of  education  will 
adopt  a  different  tone,  and  perhaps  confess  themselves  in  error, 

*  It  Is  remarkable  that  the  dictionary  meaning  of  "quack"  is  "n  boastful  pretender  to  arts 
he  does  not  understand,"  so  that  the  asse.rter  of  principles  as  the  foundation  of  correct  prac- 
tice is  ipnorantly  denounced  a*  weak  on  the  very  point  which  constitutes  his  strength.  One 
miiy  imagine  the  shouts  of  laughter  with  which  such  a  denunciation  would  be  received  in  an 
assembly  of  German  experts  in  education. 


THE   SCIENCE   AND   ART  OF  EDUCATION.  165 

at  all  events,  they  will  betake  themselves  to  a  modest  and  respect- 
ful silence.  No  later  back  than  yesterday  (January  19)  the  Times 
contained  three  letters  bearing  on  Sir  Bartle  Frere's  assertion  that 
the  increasing  commercial  importance  of  Germany  is  due  mainly 
to  the  excellence  of  German  education.  One  writer  refers  to  the 
German  Realschulen  or  Thing-Schools  and  to  the  High  Schools  of 
Commerce,  in  both  of  which  the  practical  study  of  matters  bearing 
on  real  life  is  conducted.  Another  writer,  an  Ex-Chairman  of  the 
Liverpool  Chamber  of  Commerce,  sa3-s,  —  "I  have  no  hesitation  in 
stating  that  young  Germans  make  the  best  business  men,  and  the 
reason  is,  that  they  are  usually  better  educated ;  I  mean  by  this, 
they  have  a  more  thorough  education,  which  imparts  to  them 
accuracy  and  precision.  Whatever  they  do,  is  well  and  accurately 
done,  no  detail  is  too  small  to  escape  their  attention,  and  this 
engenders  a  habit  of  thought  and  mind,  which  in  after  life  makes 
them  shrewd  and  thorough  men  of  business.  I  think  the  main- 
tenance of  our  commercial  superiority  is  very  much  of  a  school- 
master's question."  A  third  writer  speaks  of  the  young  German 
clerks  sent  out  to  the  East  as  "  infinitely  superior  "  in  education  to 
the  class  of  young  men  sent  out  from  England,  and  ends  by  say- 
ing, "  Whatever  be  the  cause,  there  can  be  no  question  that  the 
Germans  are  outstripping  us  in  the  race -for  commercial  superiority 
in  the  far  East." 

Some  persons,  no  doubt,  will  be  found  to  cavil  at  these  state- 
ments ;  the  only  comment,  however,  I  think  it  necessary  to  make  is 
this  —  "  Germany  is  a  country  where  the  Science  of  Education  is 
widely  and  profoundly  studied,  and  where  the  Art  is  conformed 
to  the  Science."  I  leave  you  to  draw  your  own  inferences.  With- 
out, however,  dwelling  further  on  this  important  matter,  though  it 
is  intimately  connected  with  my  purpose,  I  repeat  that  this  dead 
weight  of  ignorance  in  the  public  mind  respecting  the  true  claims 
of  the  Science  of  Education,  constitutes  one  of  the  difficulties  with 
which  we  have  had  to  contend.  The  writer  of  a  leading  article  in 
the  Times,  January  10,  said  emphatically,  "In  truth,  there  is 
nothing  in  which  the  mass  of  Englishmen  are  so  much  in  need  of 
education  as  in  appreciating  the  value  of  Education  itself."  These 
words  contain  a  pregnant  and  melancholy  truth,  which  will  be  more 
and  more  acknowledged  as  time  moves  on. 

But  there  was  another  difficulty  of  scarcely  less  importance  with 
which  we  had  to  contend,  and  this  is  the  conviction  entertained  by 
the  general  body  of  teachers  that  they  have  nothing  to  learn  about 
Education.  We  are  now  descending,  be  it  remembered,  from  the 


166  THE  SCIENCE  AND  ART   OF  EDUCATION. 

leaders  to  the  great  band  of  mere  followers,  from  the  officers  of  the 
army  to  the  rank  and  file.  My  own  experience,  it  may  well  be 
believed,  of  teachers,  has  been  considerable. '  As  the  net  result  of 
it,  I  can  confidently  affirm  that  until  I  commenced  my  class  in 
February  last,  I  never  came  in  contact  with  a  dozen  teachers  who 
were  not  entirely  satisfied  with  their  own  empirical  methods  of 
teaching.  To  what  others  had  written  on  the  principles  of  Educa- 
tion,—  to  what  these  had  reduced  to  successful  practice, — they 
were,  for  the  most  part,  profoundly  indifferent.  To  move  onward 
in  the  grooves  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed  in  their  school 
days,  or  if  more  intelligent,  to  devise  methods  of  their  own,  with- 
out any  respect  to  the  experience,  however  enlightened,  of  others, 
was,  and  is,  the  general  practice  among  teachers.  For  them, 
indeed,  the  great  educational  authorities,  whether  writers  or 
workers,  might  as  well  never  have  existed  at  all.  In  short,  to 
repeat  what  I  said  before,  teachers,  as  a  class  (there  are  many 
notable  exceptions) ,  are  so  contented  with  themselves  and  their 
own  methods  of  teaching  that  they  complacently  believe,  and  act 
on  the  belief,  that  they  have  nothing  at  all  to  learn  from  the  Science 
and  Art  of  Education  ;  and  this  is  much  to  be  regretted  for  their 
own  sakes,  and  especially  for  the  sake  of  their  pupils,  whose  edu- 
cational health  and  well-being  lie  in  their  hands.  However  this 
may  be,  the  fact  is  unquestionable,  that  one  of  the  greatest  impedi- 
ments to  any  attempt  to  expound  the  principles  of  Education  lies 
in  the  unwarrantable  assumption  on  the  part  of  the  teachers  that 
they  have  nothing  to  learn  on  the  subject.  Here,  however,  as  is 
often  the  case,  the  real  need  for  a  remedy  is  in  inverse  proportion 
to  the  patient's  consciousness  of  the  need.  The  worst  teachers 
are  generally  those  who  are  most  satisfied  with  themselves,  and 
their  own  small  performances. 

The  fallacy,  not  yet  displaced  from  the  mind  of  the  public,  on 
which  this  superstructure  of  conceit  is  raised,  is  that  "he  who 
knows  a  subject  can  teach  it."  The  postulate,  that  a  teacher 
should  thoroughly  know  the  subject  he  professes  to  teach,  is  by 
no  means  disputed,  but  it  is  contended  that  the  question  at  issue  is 
to  be  mainly  decided  by  considerations  lying  on  the  pupil's  side  of 
it.  The  process  of  thinking,  by  which  the  pupil  learns,  is  essen- 
tially his  own.  The  teacher  can  but  stimulate  and  direct,  he 
cannot  supersede  it.  He  cannot  do  the  thinking  necessary  to  gain 
the  desired  result  for  his  pupil.  The  problem,  then,  that  he  has  to 
solve  is  how  to  get  his  pupil  to  learn  ;  and  it  is  evident  that  he 
may  know  the  subject  without  knowing  the  best  means  of  making 


THE  SCIENCE   AND   ART  OF   EDUCATION.  167 

his  pupil  know  it  too,  which  is  the  assumed  end  of  all  his  teach- 
ing. He  may  be  an  adept  in  his  subject,  but  a  novice  in  the  art 
of  teaching  it  —  an  art  which  has  principles,  laws,  and  processes 
peculiar  to  itself. 

But,  again  ;  a  man,  profoundly  acquainted  with  a  subject,  may 
be  unapt  to  teach  it  by  reason  of  the  very  height  and  extent  of 
his  knowledge.  His  mind  habitually  dwells  among  the  mountains, 
and  he  has,  therefore,  small  sympathy  with  the  toiling  plodders  on 
the  plains  below.  The  difficulties  which  beset  their  path  have 
long  ceased  to  be  a  part  of  his  own  experience.  He  cannot  then 
easily  condescend  to  their  condition,  place  himself  alongside  of 
them,  and  force  a  sympathy  he  cannot  naturally  feel  with  their 
trials  and  perplexities.  Both  these  cases  tend  to  the  same  issue, 
and  show  that  it  is  a  fallacy  to  assert  that  there  is  any  necessary 
connection  between  knowing  a  subject  and  knowing  how  to 
teach  it. 

Our  experiment  was  commenced  on  the  6th  of  February  last. 
On  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  only  seventeen  teachers  had  given  in 
their  names  as  members  of  the  class  that  was  to  be  formed.  In 
the  evening,  however,  to  my  surprise,  I  found  no  fewer  than  fifty- 
one  awaiting  the  lecture.  This  number  was  increased  in  a  few 
weeks  to  sevent}',  and  on  the  whole,  there  have  been  eighty  mem- 
bers in  the  course  of  the  year.  Having  brought  our  little  history 
down  to  the  commencement  of  the  lectures  in  1873,  I  propose  to 
occupy  the  remainder  of  our  time  with  a  brief  account  of  what 
was  intended,  and  what  has  been  accomplished  by  them. 

Generally  speaking,  the  intention  was  to  show  (1)  that  there  is 
a  Science  of  Education,  that  is,  that  there  are  principles  derived 
from  the  nature  of  the  mind  which  furnish  laws  for  the  educator's 
guidance  ;  (2)  that  there  is  an  Art  founded  on  the  Science,  which 
will  be  efficient  or  inefficient  in  proportion  to  the  educator's  con- 
scious knowledge  of  its  principles. 

It  will  be,  perhaps,  remembered  by  some  now  present,  that  I 
gave  in  my  Inaugural  Lecture  a  sketch  of  the  manner  in  which  I 
intended  to  treat  these  subjects.  As,  however,  memories  are  often 
weak,  and  require  to  be  humored,  and  as  repetition  is  the  teacher's 
sheet-anchor,  I  may,  perhaps,  be  excused  if  I  repeat  some  of  the 
matter  then  brought  forward,  and  more  especially  as  I  may  calcu- 
late that  a  large  proportion  of  my  audience  were  not  present 
last  year. 

I  had  to  consider  how  I  should  treat  the  Science  of  Education, 
especialty  in  relation  to  such  a  class  as  I  was  likely  to  have.  It 


168  THE   SCIENCE  AND   AKT   OF  EDUCATION. 

was  to  be  expected  that  the  class  would  consist  of  young  teachers 
unskilled  in  the  art  of  teaching,  and  perhaps  even  more  unskilled 
in  that  of  thinking.     Such  in  fact  they,  for  the  most  part,  proved 
to  be.     Now  the  Science  of  Education  is  a  branch  of  Psychology, 
and  both  Education  and  Psychology,  as  sciences,  may  be  studied 
either  deductively  or  inductively.     We  may  commence  with  general 
propositions,  and  work  downward  to  the  facts  they  represent,  or 
upward  from  the  facts  to  the  general  propositions.     To  students 
who  had  been  mainly  occupied  with  the  concrete  and  practical,  it 
seemed  to  me  much  better  to  commence  with  the  concrete  and 
practical ;  with  facts,  rather  than  with  abstractions.     But  what 
facts  ?    That  was  the  question.     There  is  no  doubt  that  a  given  art 
contains  in  its  practice,  for  eyes  that  can  truly  see,  the  principles 
which  govern  its  action.     The  reason  for  doing  may  be  gathered 
from  the  doing  itself.     If,  then,  we  could  be  quite  sure  beforehand 
that  perfect  specimens  of  practical  teaching  based  on  sound  prin- 
ciples, were  accessible,  we  might  have  set  about  studying  them 
carefully,  with  a  view  to  elicit  the  principles  which  underlie  the 
practice,  and  in  this  way  we  might  have  arrived  at  a  Science  of 
Education.     But  then  this  involves  the  whole  question  —  Who  is 
to  guarantee  dogmatically  the  absolute  soundness  of  a  given  method 
of  teaching,  and  if  any  one  comes  forward  to  do  this,  who  is  to 
guarantee  the  soundness  of  his  judgment?     It  appears,  then,  that 
although  we  might  evolve  the  principles  of   medicine  from  the 
general  practice  of  medicine,  or  the  principles  of  engineering  from 
the  general  practice  of  engineering,  we  cannot  evolve  the  prin- 
ciples of  education  from  the  general  practice  of  education  as  we 
actually  find  it.     So  much  of  that  practice  is  radically  and  ob- 
viously unsound,  so  little  of  sequence  and  co-ordination  is  there 
in  its  parts,  so  aimless  generally  is  its  action,  that  to  search  for 
the  Science  of  Education  in  its  ordinary  present  practice  would 
be  a  sheer  waste  of  time.     We  should  find,  for  instance,  the  same 
teacher  acting  one  day,  and  with  regard  to  one  subject,  on  one 
principle,  and  another  day,  or  with  regard  to  another  subject,  on  a 
totally  different  principle,  all  the  time   forgetting  that  the  mind 
really  has   but   one   method   of   learning  so    as  really  to  know, 
though  multitudes  of  methods  may  be  framed  for  giving  the  sem- 
blance of  knowing.     We  see  one  teacher,  who  is  never  satisfied 
until  he  secures  his  pupils'  possession  of  clear  ideas  upon  a  given 
subject ;    another,  who  will  let  them   go  off  with  confused  and 
imperfect  ideas ;  and  a  third,  who  will  think  his  duty  clone  when 
he  has  stuffed  them  with  mere  words  —  with  husks  instead  of  grain. 


THE    SCIENCE   AND   ART   OF  EDUCATION.  169 

It  is  then  perfectly  clear  that  we  cannot  deduce  the  principles  of 
true  science  from  varying  practice  of  this  kind  ;  and  if  we  confine 
ourselves  to  inferences  drawn  from  such  practice,  we  shall  never 
know  what  the  Science  of  Education  is.  Having  thus  shut  our- 
selves off  from  dealing  with  the  subject  by  the  high  d  priori 
method,  commencing  with  abstract  principles,  and  also  from  the 
unsatisfactory  method  of  reference  founded  on  various,  but  gener- 
ally imperfect,  practice ;  and  being  still  resolved,  if  possible,  to 
get  down  to  a  solid  foundation  on  which  we  might  build  a  fabric 
of  science,  we  were  led  to  inquire  whether  any  system  of  education 
is  to  be  found,  constant  and  consistent  in  its  working,  by  the  study 
of  which  we  might  reach  the  desired  end.  On  looking  round  we 
saw  that  there  is  such  a  system  continually  at  work  under  our  very 
eyes,  —  one  which  secures  definite  results,  in  the  shape  of  positive 
knowledge,  and  trains  to  habit  the  powers  by  which  these  results 
are  gained,  —  which  cannot  but  be  consistent  with  the  general 
nature  of  things,  because  it  is  Nature's  own.  Here,  then,  we  have 
what  we  were  seeking  for  —  a  system  working  harmoniously  and 
consistently  towards  a  definite  end,  and  securing  positive  results  — 
a  system,  too,  strictly  educational,  whether  we  regard  the  develop- 
ment of  the  faculties  employed,  or  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  as 
accompanying  the  development  —  a  system  in  which  the  little  child 
is  the  Pupil,  and  Natui'e  the  educator. 

Having  gained  this  stand-point,  and  with  it  a  conviction  that  if 
we  could  only  understand  this  great  educator's  method  of  teach- 
ing and  see  the  true  connection  between  the  means  he  employs  and 
the  end  he  attains,  we  should  get  a  correct  notion  of  what  is 
really  meant  by  education;  we  next  inquire,  "How  are  we  to 
proceed  for  this  purpose?  "  The  answer  is,  by  the  method  through 
which  other  truths  are  ascertained  —  by  investigation.  We  must 
do  what  the  chemist,  the  physician,  the  astronomer  do,  when  they 
study  their  respective  subjects.  We  must  examine  into  the  facts, 
and  endeavor  to  ascertain,  first,  what  they  are ;  secondly,  what 
they  mean.  The  bodily  growth  of  the  child  from  birth  is,  for 
instance,  a  fact,  which  we  can  all  observe  for  ourselves.  What 
does  it  mean  ?  It  means  that,  under  certain  external  influences 
—  such  as  air,  light,  food  —  the  child  increases  in  material  bulk 
and  in  physical  power :  that  these  influences  tend  to  integration, 
to  the  forming  of  a  whole  ;  that  they  are  all  necessary  for  that 
purpose  ;  that  the  withholding  of  any  one  of  them  leads  to  dis- 
integration or  the  breaking  up  of  the  whole.  But  as  we  continue 
to  observe,  we  see,  moreover,  evidences  of  mental  growth.  We 


170  THE   SCIENCE   AND   ART  OF   EDUCATION. 

witness  the  birth  of  consciousness ;  we  see  the  mind  answering, 
through  the  sense,  to  the  call  of  the  external  world,  and  giving 
manifest  tokens  that  impressions  are  both  received  and  retained  by 
it.  The  child  "takes  notice"  of  objects  and  actions,  manifests 
feelings  of  pleasure  or  pain  in  connection  with  them,  and  indicates 
a  desire  or  will  to  deal  in  his  own  way  with  the  objects,  and  to  take 
part  in  the  actions.  We  see  that  this  growth  of  intellectual  power, 
shown  by  his  increasing  ability  to  hold  intercourse  with  things 
about  him,  is  closely  connected  with  the  growth  of  his  bodily 
powers,  and  we  derive  from  our  observation  one  important  prin- 
ciple of  the  Science  of  Education,  that  mind  and  body  are  mutually 
interdependent,  and  co-operate  in  promoting  growth. 

"We  next  observe  that  as  the  baby,  under  the  combined  influences 
of  air,  light,  and  .food,  gains  bodily  strength,  he  augments  that 
strength  by  continually  exercising  it ;  he  uses  the  fund  he  has 
obtained,  and,  by  using,  makes  it  more.  Exercise  reiterated, 
almost  unremitting  ;  unceasing  movement,  apparently  for  its  own 
sake,  as  an  end  in  itself;  the  jerking  and  wriggling  in  the  mother's 
arms,  the  putting  forth  of  his  hands  to  grasp  at  things  near  him, 
the  turning  of  the  head  to  look  at  bright  objects ;  this  exercise, 
these  movements,  constitute  his  very  life.  He  lives  in  them,  and 
by  them.  He  is  urged  to  exercise  lay  stimulants  from  without ; 
but  the  exercise  itself  brings  pleasure  with  it  (labor  ipse  voluptas), 
is  continued  on  that  account,  and  ends  in  increase  of  power. 
What  applies  to  the  body,  applies  also,  by  the  foregoing  principle, 
to  the  intellectual  powers,  which  grow  with  the  infant's  growth, 
and  strengthen  with  his  strength.  Our  observation  of  these  facts 
furnishes  us,  therefore,  with  a  second  principle  of  education  — 
Faculty  of  ichatever  kind  grows  by  exercise.  Without  changing  our 
ground  we  supplement  this  principle  by  another.  We  see  that  the 
great  educator  who  prompts  the  baby  to  exercise,  and  connects 
pleasure  with  all  his  voluntary  movements,  makes  the  exercise 
effectual  for  the  purpose  in  view  by  constant  reiteration.  Perfec- 
tion in  action  is  secured  by  repeating  the  action  thousands  of 
times.  The  baby  makes  the  same  movements  over  and  over 
again ;  the  muscles  and  the  nerves  learn  to  work  together,  and 
habit  is  the  result.  Similarly  in  the  case  of  the  mind,  the  impres- 
sions communicated  through  the  organs  of  sense  grow  from  cloudy 
to  clear,  from  obscure  to  definite,  by  dint  of  endless  repetition  of 
the  functional  act.  By  the  observation  of  these  facts  we  arrive 
at  a  third  principle  of  education: — Exercise  involves  repetition, 
which,  as  regards  bodily  actions,  ends  in  habits  of  action,  and  as 


THE   SCIENCE   AND   AKT   OF   EDUCATION.        .       171 

regards  impressions  received  by  the  mind,  ends  in  clearness  of 
perception. 

Looking  still  at  our  baby  as  he  pursues  his  education,  we  seo 
that  this  manifold  exercise  is  only  apparently  an  end  in  itself.  The 
true  purpose  of  the  teaching  is  to  stimulate  the  pupil  to  the  acqui- 
sition of  knowledge,  and  to  make  all  these  varied  movements 
subservient  to  that  end.  This  exercise  of  faculty  brings  the  child 
into  contact  with  the  properties  of  matter,  initiates  him  into  the 
mysteries  of  hard  and  soft,  heavy  and  light,  &c.,  the  varieties  of 
form,  of  round  and  flat,  circular  and  angular,  &c.,  the  attractive 
charms  of  color.  All  this  is  knowledge,  gained  by  reiterated 
exercise  of  the  faculties,  and  stored  up  in  the  mind  by  its  retentive 
power.  We  recognize  the  baby  as  a  practical  inquirer  after 
knowledge  for  its  own  sake.  But  we  further  see  him  as  a  dis- 
coverer, testing  the  properties  of  matter  by  making  his  own  experi- 
ments upon  it.  He  knocks  the  spoon  against  the  basin  which 
contains  his  food ;  he  is  pleased  with  the  sound  produced  by  his 
action,  and  more  than  pleased,  delighted,  if  the  basin  breaks 
under  the  operation.  He  throws  his  ball  on  the  ground,  and 
follows  its  revolution  with  his  enraptured  eye.  What  a  wonderful 
experiment  it  is !  How  charmed  he  is  with  the  effect  he  has 
produced !  He  repeats  the  experiment  over  and  over  again  with 
unwearied  assiduity.  The  child  is  surely  a  Newton,  or  a  Faraday, 
in  petticoats.  No,  he  is  simply  one  of  nature's  ordinary  pupils, 
inquiring  after  knowledge,  and  gaining  it  by  his  own  unaided 
powers.  He  is  teaching  himself,  under  the  guidance  of  a  great 
educator.  His  self-teaching  ends  in  development  and  growth, 
and  it  is  therefore  strictly  educational  in  its  nature.  In  view  of 
these  facts  we  gain  a  fourth  principle  of  the  Science  of  Education. 
The  exercise  of  the  child's  own  powers,  stimulated  but  not  super- 
seded by  the  educator's  interference,  ends  both  in  the  acquisition  of 
knowledge  and  in  the  invigoration  of  the  powers  for  further 
acquisition. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  give  further  illustrations  of  our  method. 
Every  one  will  see  that  it  consists  essentially  in  the  observation 
and  investigation  of  facts,  the  most  important  of  which  is  that 
we  have  before  us  a  pupil  going  through  a  definite  system  of  edu- 
cation. We  are  convinced  that  it  is  education,  because  it  develops 
faculty,  and  therefore  conduces  to  development  and  growth.  By 
close  observation  we  detect  the  method  of  the  master,  and  see  that 
it  is  a  method  which  repudiates  cramming  rules  and  definitions, 
and  giving  wordy  explanations,  and  secures  the  pupil's  utmost 


172  THE   SCIENCE   AND  ART   OF   EDUCATION. 

benefit  from  the  work  by  making  him  do  it  all  himself  through  the 
exercise  of  his  unaided  powers.*  We  thus  get  a  clue  to  the  con- 
struction of  a  Science  of  Education,  to  be  built  up,  as  it  were,  on 
the  organized  compound  of  body  and  mind,  to  which  we  give 
the  name  of  baby.  Continuing  still  our  observation  of  the  phe- 
nomena it  manifests,  first,  in  its  speechless,  and  afterwards  in  its 
speaking  condition,  we  gain  other  principles  of  education ;  and 
lastly,  colligating  and  generalizing  our  generalizations,  we  arrive 
at  a  definition  of  education  as  carried  on  by  Nature.  This  may 
be  roughly  expressed  thus :  —  Natural  education  consists  in  the 
development  and  training  of  the  learner's  powers,  through  influences 
of  various  kinds,  which  are  initiated  by  action  from  without,  met  by 
corresponding  reaction  from  within. 

Then  assuming,  as  we  appear  to  have  a  right  to  do,  that  this 
natural  education  should  be  the  model  or  type  of  formal  education, 
we  somewhat  modify  our  definition  thus  — 

Education  is  the  development  and  training  of  the  learner's  native 
powers  by  means  of  instruction  carried  on  through  the  conscious  and 
persistent  agency  of  the  formal  educator,  and  depends  upon  the 
established  connection  between  the  world  without  and  the  world  within 
the  mind  —  between  the  objective  and  the  subjective. 

I  am  aware  that  this  definition  is  defective,  inasmuch  as  it 
ignores  —  or  appears  to  ignore  —  the  vast  fields  of  physical  and 
moral  education.  It  will,  however,  serve  my  present  purpose, 
which  is  especially  connected  with  intellectual  education. 

Having  reached  this  point,  and  gained  a  general  notion  of  a 
Science  of  Education,  we  go  on  to  consider  the  Art  of  Education, 
or  the  practical  application  of  the  Science.  We  are  thus  led  to 

*  The  r.i-ln  >p  of  Exeter,  In  the  admirable  address  which  he  lately  delivered  on  the  occasion 
of  his  presiding  at  the  giving  of  prizes  to  the  successful  candidates  for  schools  in  union  with 
the  College  of  Preceptors,  confirmed  in  various  ways  the  principles  above  laid  down.  This 
address  was  delivered  since  my  lecture  at  the  College.  It  may  be  found  fully  reported  In  the 
"Educational  Times"  for  February.  Among  other  remarks  were  the  following:  —  "Wo 
often  find  that  when  teachers  fancy  their  pupils  have  obtained  a  thorough  mastery  of  a  sub- 
ject, they  are  deceived,  because  they  have  not  noticed  that,  in  almost  imperceptible  ways,  they 
have  been  doing  for  the  pupil  what  he  ought  to  be  doing  for  himself.  I  have  repeatedly  gone 
Into  a  school,  and  on  examining  it,  say  in  arithmetic,  have  been  told  by  the  master,  ''it  is  very 
strange  that  the  boys  do  not  know  it;  I  thought  they  knew  it  thoroughly.'  I  have  always 
asked  them -this,  'When  you  have  examined  them,  have  you  made  them  answer  for  them- 
selves?"  And  the  reply  has  been,  'Yes,  I  have  left  them  with  themselves  except  just  the 
very  slightest  possible  help  occasionally ;  just  enough  to  prevent  them  from  wandering  about.' 
That  is  the  whole  thing.  That  very  little  help  is  the  thing  which  vitiated  the  examination 
altogether;  and  the  test  of  real  mastery  is  that  the  knowledge  shall  be  produced  [and  there- 
fore obtained]  without  any  help  at  all.  When  men  and  women  in  after-life  come  to  use  their 
knowledge,  they  will  find  that  the  knowledge  is  really  of  no  use  unless  they  are  able  to 
apply  it  absolutely  without  assistance,  and  without  the  slightest  guidance  to  prevent  them 
falling  into  the  most  grievous  mistakes." 


THE   SCIENCE   AND   ART   OF   EDUCATION.  173 

examine  the  difference  between  Science  and  Art,  and  between 
Nature  and  Art.  Science  tells  us  what  a  thing  is,  and  why  it  is 
what  it  is.  It  deals  therefore  with  the  nature  of  the  thing,  with 
its  relations  to  other  things,  and  consequently  with  the  laws  of  its 
being.  Art  derives  its  rules  from  this  knowledge  of  the  thing  and 
and  its  laws  of  action,  and  says,  "  Do  this  or  that  with  the  thing 
in  order  to  accomplish  the  end  you  have  in  view.  If  you  act 
otherwise  with  it,  you  violate  the  laws  of  its  being."  Now  the 
rules  of  Art  may  be  carried  out  blindly  or  intelligently.  If  blindly, 
the  worker  is  a  mere  artisan  —  an  operative  who  follows  routine, 
whose  rule  is  the  rule-of-thumb.  If  intelligently,  he  is  a  true 
artist,  who  not  only  knows  what  he  is  doing,  but  why  this  process 
is  right  and  that  wrong,  and  who  is  furnished  with  resources  suit- 
able for  guiding  normal,  and  correcting  abnormal,  action.  All  the 
operations  of  the  true  artist  can  be  justified  by  reference  to  the 
principles  of  Science.  But  there  is  also  a  correlation  between 
Nature  and  Art.  These  terms  are  apparently,  but  not  really, 
opposed  to  each  other.  Bacon  long  ago  pointed  out  the  true  dis- 
tinction when  he  said,  Ars  est  Homo  additus  JFaturce  —  Art  is 
Nature  with  the  addition  of  Man  —  Art  is  Man's  work  added  to 
(not  put  in  the  place  of)  Nature's  work.  Here  then  is  the  synthesis 
of  Nature  and  Man  which  justifies  us  in  saj-ing  that  natural  edu- 
cation is  the  type  or  model  of  formal,  or  what  we  usually  call, 
without  an  epithet,  education,  and  that  the  Art  of  Teaching  Jgthd 
application  by  the  teacher  of  laws  of  Science,  which  he  has 
himself  discovered  by  investigating  Nature.  This  is  the  key- 
stone of  our  position  ;  if  this  is  firm  and  strong,  all  is  firm  and 
strong.  Abandon  this  position  and  you  walk  in  darkness  and 
doubt,  not  knowing  what  you  are  doing  or  whither  you  are  wander- 
ing—  at  the  mercy  of  every  wind  of  doctrine. 

The  artist  in  education,  thus  equipped,  is  read}1  not  only  to  work 
himself,  but  to  judge  of  the  work  of  others.  He  sees,  for  instance, 
a  teacher  coldly  or  sternly  demanding  the  attention  of  a  little 
child  to  some  lesson,  say  in  arithmetic.  The  child  has  never  been 
led  up  gradually  to  the  point  at  which  he  is.  He  has  none  but 
confused  notions  about  it.  The  teacher,  without  any  attempt  to 
interest  the  child,  without  exhibiting  affection  or  sympathy  towards 
him,  hastily  gives  him  some  technical  directions,  and  sends  him 
away  to  profit  by  them  as  he  may  —  simply  "  orders  him  to  learn," 
and  leaves  him  to  do  so  alone.  Our  teacher  sa3"s,  —  "  This  trans- 
action is  inartistic.  The  element  of  humanity  is  altogether  want- 
ing in  it.  It  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  Science  of  Education  ; 


174  THE   SCIENCE  AND   AliT   OF   EDUCATION. 

it  is  a  violation  of  the  Art.  The  great  educator,  in  his  teaching, 
presents  a  motive  and  an  object  for  voluntary  action  ;  and  there- 
fore excites  attention  towards  the  object  by  enlisting  the  feelings 
in  the  inquiry.  He  does  not,  it  is  true,  show  sympathy,  because 
he  acts  by  inflexible  rules.  But  the  human  educator,  as  an  artist, 
is  bound  not  only  to  excite  an  interest  in  the  work,  but  to  sympa- 
thize with  the  worker.  This  teacher  does  neither.  His  practice 
ought  to  exemplify  the  formula,  Ars  =  Natura-\- Homo.  He 
leaves  out  both  Natura  and  Homo.  His  Ars  therefore  =  0." 

Another  case  presents  itself.  Here  the  teacher  does  not  leave 
the  child  alone  ;  on  the  contrary,  is  continually  by  his  side.  At 
this  moment  he  is  copiously  "  imparting  his  knowledge  "  of  some 
subject  to  his  pupil,  whose  aspect  shows  that  he  is  not  receiving 
it,  and  who  therefore  looks  puzzled.  The  matter,  whatever  it  is, 
has  evidently  little  or  no  relation  to  the  actual  condition  of  the 
child's  mind,  in  which  it  finds  no  links  of  association  and  produces 
no  intellectual  reaction,  and  which  therefore  does  not  co-operate 
with  the  teacher's.  He  patiently  endures,  however,  because  he 
cannot  escape  from  it,  the  downpouriug  of  the  teacher's  knowl- 
edge ;  but  it  is  obvious  that  he  gains  nothing  from  it.  It  passes 
over  his  mind  as  water  passes  over  a  duck's  back.  The  subject 
of  instruction,  before  unknown,  remains  unknown  still.  Our 
artist  teacher,  looking  on,  pronounces  that  this  teaching  is  inar- 
tistic, as  not  being  founded  on  Science.  "The  efficiency  of  a 
lesson  is  to  be  proved,"  he  says,  uby  the  part  taken  in  it  by  the 
pupil ;  and  here  the  teacher  does  all  the  work,  the  pupil  does 
nothing  at  all.  It  is  the  teacher's  mind,  not  the  learner's  that  is 
engaged  in  it.  Our  great  master  teaches  by  calling  into  exercise 
the  learner's  powers,  not  by  making  a  display  of  his  own.  The 
child  will  never  learn  anything  so  as  to  possess  it  for  himself  by 
such  teaching  as  this,  which  accounts  the  exercise  of  his  own 
faculties  as  having  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  the  process  of 
learning." 

Once  more ;  our  student,  informed  in  the  Science  of  Education, 
watches  a  teacher  who  is  giving  a  lesson  on  language  —  say,  on  the 
mother  tongue.  This  mother  tongue  the  child  virtually  knows 
how  to  use  already :  and  if  he  has  been  accustomed  to  educated 
society,  speaks  and  (if  he  is  old  enough  to  write)  writes  it  cor- 
rectly. The  teacher  puts  a  book  into  his  hand,  the  first  sentence 
of  which  is,  "  English  grammar  is  the  art  of  speaking  and  writing 
the  English  language  correctly."  The  child  does  not  know  what 
an  "  art "  is,  nor  what  is  meant  by  speaking  English  "  correctly." 


THE   SCIENCE  AND   ART   OF   EDUCATION.  175 

If  he  is  intelligent  he  wonders  whether  he  speaks  it  "  correctly"  or 
not.  As  to  the  meaning  of  "  art,"  he  is  altogether  at  sea.  The 
teacher  is  aware  of  the  perplexity,  and  desiring  to  make  him  really 
understand  the  meaning  of  the  word,  attempts  an  explanation. 
"  An  art,"  he  says  (getting  the  definition  from  a  dictionary),  "  is 
*a  power  of  doing  something  not  taught  by  Nature."  The  child 
stares  with  astonishment,  as  if  you  were  talking  Greek  or  Arabic. 
What  can  be  meant  by  a  "  power  "  —  what  by  "  being  taught  by 
Nature"?  The  teacher  sees  that  his  explanation  has  only  made 
what  was  dark  before  darker  still.  He  attempts  to  explain  his 
explanation,  and  the  fog  grows  thicker  and  thicker.  At  last  he 
gives  it  up,  pronounces  the  child  stupid,  and  ends  by  telling  him 
to  learn  by  rote  —  that  is,  by  hurdy-gurdy  grind  —  the  unintelligible 
words.  That  at  least  the  child  can  do  (a  parrot  could  be  taught  to 
do  the  same) ,  and  he  does  it ;  but  his  mind  has  received  no  instruc- 
tion whatever  from  the  lesson  —  the  intelligence  which  distinguishes 
the  child  from  the  parrot  remains  entirely  uncultivated. 

Our  teacher  proceeds  to  criticise.  "This  is,"  he  says,  "  alto- 
gether inartistic  teaching."  Our  great  master  does  not  begin 
with  definitions  —  and  indeed  gives  no  definitions  —  because  they 
are  unsuited  to  the  pupil's  state  of  mind.  He  begins  with  facts 
which  the  child  can  understand,  because  he  observes  them  himself. 
This  teacher  should  have  begun  with  facts.  The  first  lesson  in 
Grammar  (if  indeed  it  is  necessary  to  teach  Grammar  at  all  to  a 
little  child)  should  be  a  lesson  on  the  names  of  the  objects  in  the 
room  —  objects  which  the  child  sees  and  handles,  and  knows  by 
seeing  and  handling  —  that  is,  has  ideas  of  them  in  his  mind. 
"  What  is  the  name  of  this  thing  and  of  that?  "  he  inquires,  and 
the  child  tells  him.  The  ideas  of  the  things,  and  the  names  by 
which  they  are  known,  are  already  associated  together  in  his  con- 
sciousness, and  he  has  already  learned  to  translate  things  into  words. 
The  teacher  may  tell  him  (for  he  could  not  discover  it  for  himself) 
that  a  name  may  also  be  called  a  noun.  "  What  then,"  the  teacher 
may  say,  "  is  a  noun  ?  "  The  child  replies,  "  A  noun  is  a  name  of  a 
thing."  He  has  constructed  a  definition  himself  —  a  very  simple 
one  certainly  —  but  then  it  is  a  definition  which  he  thoroughly 
understands  because  it  is  his  own  work.  This  mode  of  proceeding 
would  be  artistic,  because  in  accordance  with  Nature.  There 
would  be  no  need  to  commit  the  definition  to  memory,  as  a  mere 
collection  of  words,  because  what  it  means  is  already  committed  to 
the  understanding  which  will  retain  it,  because  it  represents  facts 


176  THE   SCIENCE  AND  ART   OF   EDUCATION. 

already  known  and  appreciated.     Thoroughly  knowing  things  is  the 
sure  way  to  remember  them." 

In  some  such  way  as  this  our  expert  brings  the  processes  com- 
monly called  teaching  to  the  touchstone  of  his  Science,  the  Science 
which  he  has  built  up  on  his  observation  of  the  processes  of 
Nature. 

.1  am  afraid  that,  in  spite  of  my  illustrations,  I  may  still  have 
failed  to  impress  you  as  strongly  as  I  wish  to  do  with  the  cardinal 
truth,  that  you  cannot  get  the  best  results  of  teaching  unless  you 
understand  the  mind  with  which  you  have  to  deal.  There  are, 
indeed,  teachers  endowed  with  the  power  of  sympathizing  so 
earnestly  with  children,  that  in  their  case  this  sympathy  does 
the  work  of  knowledge,  or  .rather  it  is  knowledge  unconsciously 
'exercising  the  power  proverbially  attributed  to  it.  The  intense 
interest  they  feel  in  their  work  almost  instinctively  leads  them  to 
adopt  the  right  way  of  doing  it.  They  are  artists  without  knowing 
that  they  are  artists.  But,  speaking  generally,  it  will  be  found 
that  the  only  truly  efficient  director  of  intellectual  action  is  one  who 
understands  intellectual  action  —  that  is,  who  understands  the  true 
nature  of  the  mind  which  he  is  directing.  It  is  this  demand  which 
we  make  on  the  teacher  that  constitutes  teaching  as  a  psychological 
art,  and  which  renders  the  conviction  inevitable  that  an  immense 
number  of  those  who  practise  it  do  so  without  possessing  the 
requisite  qualifications.  They  undertake  to  guide  a  machine  of 
exquisite  capabilites,  and  of  the  most  delicate  construction,  with- 
out understanding  its  construction  or  the  range  of  its  capabilities, 
and  especially  without  understanding  the  fundamental  principles 
of  the  science  of  mechanics.  Hence  the  telling,  cramming,  the 
endless  explaining,  the  rote  learning,  which  enfeeble  and  deaden 
the  native  powers  of  the  child  ;  and  hence,  as  the  final  conse- 
quence, the  melancholy  results  of  instruction  in  our  primary 
schools,  and  the  scarcely  less  melancholy  results  in  schools  of 
higher  aims  and  pretensions,  all  of  which  are  the  legitimate  fruit 
of  the  one  fundamental  error  which  I  have  over  and  over  again 
pointed  out. 

In  accordance  with  these  views,  it  has  been  insisted  on  through- 
out the  entire  Course  of  Lectures,  that  teaching,  in  the  true  sense 
of  the  term,  has  nothing  in  common  with  the  system  of  telling, 
cramming,  and  drilling,  which  very  generally  usurps  its  name. 
The  teacher,  properly  so  called,  is  a  man  who,  besides  knowing 
the  subject  he  has  to  teach,  knows  moreover  the  nature  of  the 
mind  which  he  has  to  direct  in  its  acquisition  of  knowledge,  and 


THE   SCIENCE   AND   ART  OF  EDUCATION.  177 

the  best  methods  by  which  this  may  be  accomplished.  He  must 
know  the  subject  of  instruction  thoroughly,  because,  although  it  is 
not  he  but  the  child  who  is  to  learn,  his  knowledge  will  enable  him 
to  suggest  the  points  to  which  the  learner's  attention  is  to  be 
directed  ;  and  besides,  as  his  proper  function  is  to  act  as  a  guide, 
it  is  important  that  he  should  have  previously  taken  the  journey 
himself.  But  we  discountenance  the  notion  usually  entertained 
that  the  teacher  is  to  know  because  he  has  to  communicate  his 
knowledge  to  the  learner ;  and  maintain,  on  the  contrary,  that  his 
proper  function  as  a  teacher  does  not  consist  in  the  communication 
of  his  own  knowledge  to  the  learner,  but  rather  in  such  action  as 
ends  in  the  learner's  acquisition  of  knowledge  for  himself.  To 
deny  this  principle  is«to  give  a  direct  sanction  to  telling  and  cram- 
ming, which  are  forbidden  by  the  laws  of  education.  To  tell  the 
child  what  he  can  learn  for  himself,  is  to  neutralize  his  efforts ; 
consequently  to  enfeeble  his  powers,  to  quench  his  interest  in  the 
subject,  probably  to  create  a  distaste  for  it,  to  prevent  him  from 
learning  how  to  learn  —  to  defeat,  in  short,  all  the  ends  of  true 
education.  On  the  other  hand,  to  get  him  to  gain  knowledge  for 
himself  stimulates  his  efforts,  strengthens  his  powers,  quickens  his 
interest  in  the  subject  and  makes  him  take  pleasure  in  learning  it, 
teaches  him  how  to  learn  other  subjects,  leads  to  the  formation  of 
habits  of  thinking ;  and,  in  short,  promotes  all  the  ends  of  true 
education.  The  obvious  objection  to  this  view  of  the  case  is,  that 
as  there  are  many  things  which  the  child  cannot  learn  by  himself, 
we  must  of  course  tell  him  them.  My  answer  is,  that  the  things 
which  he  cannot  learn  of  himself  are  things  unsuited  to  the  actual 
state  of  his  mind.  His  mind  is  not  yet  prepared  for  them  ;  and  by 
forcing  them  upon  him  prematurely,  you  are  injuriously  anticipating 
the  natural  course  of  things.  You  are  cramming  him  with  that 
which,  although  it  may  be  knowledge  to  }-ou,  cannot  possibly  be 
knowledge  to  him.  Knowing,  in  relation  to  the  training  of  the 
mind,  is  the  result  of  learning ;  and  learning  is  the  process  by 
which  the  child  teaches  himself  ;  and  he  teaches  himself  —  he  can 
only  teach  himself — by  personal  experience.  Take,  for  instance, 
a  portion  of  matter  which,  for  some  cause  or  other,  interests  him. 
He  exercises  his  senses  upon  it,  looks  at  it,  handles  it,  &c.,  throws 
it  on  the  ground,  flings  it  up  into  the  air  ;  and  while  doing  all  this, 
compares  it  with  other  things,  gains  notions  of  its  color,  form, 
hardness,  weight,  &c.  The.result  is,  that  without  any  direct  teach- 
ing from  you,  without  any  telling,  he  knows  it  through  his  personal 


178  THE  SCIENCE  AND   ART   OF  EDUCATION. 

experience  —  he  knows  it,  as  we  say,  of  his  own  knowledge  ;  and 
has  not  only  learned  by  himself  something  that  he  did  not  know 
before,  but  has  been  learning  how  to  learn.  But  supposing  that 
you  are  not  satisfied  with  his  proceeding  thus  naturally  and  surely 
in  the  career  of  self-acquisition,  and  you  tell  him  something  which 
he  could  not  possibly  learn  by  this  method  of  his  own.  Let  it  be, 
for  instance,  the^istance  of  the  sun  from  the  earth,  the  superficial 
area  of  Sweden,  &c.  When  you  have  told  him  that  the  sun  is  95 
millions  of  miles  from  the  earth,  that  the  area  of  Sweden  is  so 
many  square  miles,  you  have  evidently  transcended  his  personal 
experience.  What  you  have  told  him,  instead  of  being  knowledge 
gained,  as  in  the  other  case,  at  first  hand,  is  information  obtained 
probably  at  tenth  or  even  fiftieth  hand,  even  by  yourself,  and  is 
therefore  in  no  true  sense  of  the  word  "  knowledge  "  even  to  you, 
much  less  is  it  knowledge  to  him ;  and  in  telling  it  to  him  pre- 
maturely, you  are  cramming  and  not  teaching  him.  Dr.  John 
Brown  ("  Horae  Subsecivae,"  Second  series,  p.  473)  well  says, — 
"  The  great  thing  with  knowledge  and  the  young  is  to  secure  that 
it  shall  be  their  own  ;  that  it  be  not  merely  external  to  their  inner 
and  real  self,  but  shall  go  in  succum  et  sanguinem;  and  therefore 
it  is  that  the  self-teaching  that  a  baby  and  a  child  give  themselves 
remains  with  them  for  ever.  It  is  of  their  essence,  whereas 'what 
is  given  them  ab  extra,  especially  if  it  be  received  mechanicallj-, 
without  relish,  and  without  any  energizing  of  the  entire  nature, 
remains  pitifully  useless  and  wersh  (insipid).  Try,  therefore, 
always  to  get  the  resident  teacher  inside  the  skin,  and  who  is  for 
ever  giving  his  lessons,  to  help  you,  and  be  on  your  side."  You 
easily  see  from  these  remarks  of  Dr.  Brown's  that  he  means  what 
I  mean  ;  —  that  matters  of  information  obtained  by  other  people's 
research,  and  which  is  true  knowledge  to  those  who  have  lawfully 
gained  it,  is  not  knowledge  to  a  child,  who  has  had  no  share  in  the 
acquisition,  and  your  dogmatic  imposition  of  it  upon  his  mind,  or 
rather  memory  only,  is  of  the  essence  of  cramming.  Such  infor- 
mation is  merely  patchwork  laid  over  the  substance  of  the  cloth  as 
compared  with  the  texture  of  the  cloth  itself.  It  is  on,  but  not 
o/,  the  fabric.  This  expansive  and  comprehensive  principle  — 
which  regards  all  learning  by  mere  rote,  even  of  such  matters  as 
multiplication-table  or  Latin  declensions  —  before  the  child's  mind 
has  had  some  preliminary  dealing  with  the  facts  of  Number  or  of 
Latin  —  as  essentially  cramming,  and  therefore  anti-educational  in 
its  nature —  will  be  of  course,  received  or  rejected  by  teachers,  just 


THE  SCIENCE  AND  AET   OF   EDUCATION.  179 

in  proportion  as  they  receive  or  reject  the  conception  of  an  art  of 
teaching  founded  on  psychological  principles. 

'And  this  brings  me  to  the  next  point  for  special  consideration. 
I  said  that  the  teacher  who  is  to  direct  intellectual  operations 
should  understand  what  they  are.  He  should,  especially  as  a 
teacher  of  little  children,  examine  well  the  method,  already  referred 
to,  by  which  they  gain  all  their  elementary  knowledge  by  them- 
selves, by  the  exercise  of  their  own  powers.  He  should  study 
children  in  the  concrete, — take  note  of  the  causes  which  operate 
on  the  will,  which  enlist  the  feelings,  which  call  forth  the  intellect, 
—  in  order  that  he  may  use  his  knowledge  with  the  best  effect 
when  he  takes  the  place  of  the  great  natural  educator.  To  change 
slightly  Locke's  words,  he  is  to  "consider  the  operation  of  the 
discerning  faculties  of  a  child  as  they  are  employed  about  the 
objects  which  they  have  to  do  with ;  "  and  this  because  it  is  his 
proper  function  as  a  teacher  to  guide  this  operation.  And  if  he 
wishes  to  be  an  accomplished  teacher  —  a  master  of  his  art  —  he 
should  further  study  the  principles  of  Psychology,  the  true  ground- 
work of  his  action,  in  the  writings  of  Locke,  Dugald  Stewart, 
Bain,  Mill,  and  others,  who  show  us  what  these  principles  are. 
This  study  will  give  a  scientific  compactness  and  co-ordination  to 
the  facts  which -he  has  learned  by  his  own  method  of  investigation. 

But  it  may  be  said,  Do  you  demand  all  this  preparation  for  the 
equipment  of  a  mere  elementary  teacher?  My  reply  is,  I  require 
it  because  lie  is  an  elementary  teacher.  Whatever  may  be  done 
in  the  case  of  those  children  who  are  somewhat  advanced  in  their 
career,  and  who  have,  to  some  extent  at  least,  learnt  how  to  learn, 
it  is  most  of  all  important  that  in  the  beginning  of  instruction, 
and  with  a  view  to  gain  the  most  fruitful  results  from  that  instruc- 
tion, the  earliest  teacher  should  be  an  adept  in  the  Science  and 
Art  of  Education.  We  should  do  as  the  Jesuits  did  in  their 
famous  schools,  who,  when  they  found  a  teacher  showing  real 
skill  and  knowledge  in  teaching  the  higher  classes,  promoted  him 
to  the  charge  of  the  lowest.  There  was  a  wise  insight  into  human 
nature  in  this.  Whether  the  child  shall  love  or  hate  knowledge,  — 
whether  his  fundamental  notions  of  things  shall  be  clear  or 
cloudy,  —  whether  he  shall  advance  in  his  course  as  an  intelligent 
being,  or  as  a  mere  machine,  —  whether  he  shall,  at  last,  leave 
school  stuffed  with  crude,  undigested  gobbets  of  knowledge,  or 
possessed  of  knowledge  assimilated  by  his  own  digestion,  and 
therefore  a  source  of  mental  health  and  strength,  —  whether  he 


180  THE  SCIENCE  AND   ART  OF   EDUCATION. 

shall  be  lean,  atrophied,  weak,  destitute  of  the  power  of  self- 
government  and  self -direction,  or  strong,  robust,  and  independ- 
ent in  thought  and  action,  —  depends  almost  altogether  on  the 
manner  in  which  his  earliest  instruction  is  conducted,  and  this 
again  on  the  teacher's  acquaintance  with  the  Science  and  Art  of 
Education. 

But  besides  knowing  the  subject  of  instruction,  and  knowing 
the  Art  of  Education  founded  on  the  Science,  the  accomplished 
teacher  should  also  know  the  methods  of  teaching  devised  or 
adopted  by  the  most  eminent  practitioners  of  his  art.  A  teacher, 
even  when  equipped  in  the  manner  I  have  suggested,  cannot 
safely  dispense  with  the  experience  of  others.  In  applying  prin- 
ciples to  practice  there  is  always  a  better  or  a  worse  manner  of 
doing  so,  and  one  may  learn  much  from  knowing  how  others 
have  overcome  the  difficulties  at  which  we  stumble.  Many  a 
teacher,  when  doubtful  of  the  principles  which  constitute  his 
usual  rule  of  action,  will  gain  confidence  and  strength  by  seeing 
their  operation  in  the  practice  of  others,  or  may  be  reminded 
of  them  when  he  has  for  the  moment  lost  sight  of  them.  Is  it 
nothing  to  a  teacher  that  Plato,  Aristotle,  Plutarch,  Quintilian, 
in  ancient  times  ;  Ascham,  Rousseau,  Comenius,  Sturm,  Pestalozzi, 
Ratich,  Jacotot,  Frobel,  Richter,  Herbart,  Beneke,  Diesterweg, 
Arnold,  Spencer,  and  a  host  of  others  in  modern  times,  have 
written  and  worked  to  show  him  what  education  is  both  in  theory 
and  practice  ?  Does  he  evince  anything  but  his  own  ignorance  by 
pretending  to  despise  or  ignore  their  labors  ?  What  would  be  said 
of  a  medical  practitioner  who  knows  nothing  of  the  works  or  even 
the  names  of  Celsus,  Galen,  Harvey,  John  Hunter,  Sydenham, 
Bell,  &c.,  and  who  sets  up  his  empirical  practice  against  the  vast 
weight  of  their  authority  and  experience?  I  need  not  insist  on 
this  argument ;  it  is  too  obvious.  Much  time,  therefore,  has  been 
devoted,  during  the  year,  to  the  History  of  Education  in  various 
countries  and  ages,  and  to  the  special  work  of  some  of  the  great 
educational  reformers.  In  particular,  the  methods  of  Ascham, 
Ratich,  Comenius,  Pestalozzi,  Jacotot,  and  Frobel  have  been 
minutely  described  and  criticised. 

And  now  it  is  only  right  to  endeavor,  in  conclusion,  to  answer 
the  question  which  may  be  fairly  asked,  "After  all,  what  have 
you  really  accomplished  by  this  elaborate  exposition  of  principles 
and  methods  ?  You  have  had  no  training  schools  for  the  practice 
of  your  students;  it  has  all  ended  in  talk."  In  reply  to  this 


THE   SCIENCE  AND  ART   OF   EDUCATION.  181 

inquiry  or  objection,  I  have  a  few  words  to  say.  The  students 
whom  I  have  been  instructing  are  for  the  most  part  teachers 
already,  who  are  practising  their  art  every  day.  My  object  has 
been  so  forcibly  to  stamp  upon  their  minds  a  few  great  principles, 
so  strongly  to  impress  them  with  convictions  of  the  truth  of  these 
principles,  that  it  should  be  impossible,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
for  them  as  my  disciples,  to  act  in  contradiction  or  violation  of 
them.  Whenever,  in  their  practice,  they  are  tempted  to  resort  to 
drill  and  cram,  I  know,  without  being  there  to  see,  that  the  prin- 
ciples which  have  become  a  part  of  their  being,  because  founded 
on  the  truths  of  nature  recognized  by  themselves,  rise  up  before 
them  and  forbid  the  intended  delinquency.  In  this  way,  without 
the  apparatus  of  a  training  school,  the  work  of  a  training  school 
is  done. 

But,  in  order  to  show  that  I  am  not  talking  at  random,  I  will 
quote  a  few  passages  from  exercises  written  by  the  students  them- 
selves, relative  to  their  own  experience  :  — 

"  Before  attending  these  Lectures,  my  aim  was  that  my  pupils  should  gain 
a  certain  amount  of  knowledge.  I  now  see  how  far  more  important  is  the 
exercise  of  those  powers  by  which  knowledge  is  gained.  I  am  therefore 
trying  to  make  them  think  for  themselves.  This,  and  the  principle  of  repe- 
tition, which  has  been  so  much  insisted  upon,  prevents  us  from  getting  over 
as  much  ground  as  formerly,  but  I  feel  that  the  work  done  is  much  more 
satisfactory  than  it  used  to  be.  I  now  try  to  adapt  my  plan  to  the  pupil, 
not  the  pupil  to  my  plan.  I  used  to  prepare  a  lesson  (say  in  history)  with 
great  care;  all  the  information  which  I  thus  laboriously  gained,  I  im- 
parted to  my  pupils  in  a  few  minutes.  I  now  see  that,  though  I  was 
benefited  by  the  process,  my  pupils  could  have  gained  but  little  good  from 
it.  The  fact  of  having  a  definite  end  in  view  gives  me  confidence  in  my 
practice.  The  effect  of  these  Lectures,  as  a  whole,  has  boon  to  give  me  a 
new  interest  in  my  work." 

"I  knew  before  that  the  ordinary  'learn  by  rote'  method  was  not  real 
education ;  but  being  unacquainted  with  the  Science  upon  which  the  true 
art  of  instruction  is  founded,  all  my  ideas  on  the  subject  were  vagxite  and 
changeable,  and  I  often  missed  the  very  definite  results  of  the  '  hurdy-gurdy ' 
system  without  altogether  securing  any  better  ones. 

"I  have  learned  that  the  only  education  worthy  of  the  name  is  based  upon 
principles  derived  from  the  study  of  child-nature,  and  from  the  observation 
of  nature's  methods  of  developing  and  training  the  inherent  powers  of  chil- 
dren from  the  very  moment  of  their  birth.  I  have  had  my  eyes  opened  to 
observe  these  processes,  and  now  see  much  more  in  the  actions  of  little 
children  than  I  formerly  did.  More  than  this,  I  have  learned  to  apply  the 
principles  of  nature  to  the  processes  of  formal  education,  and  by  them  to 
test  their  value  and  lightness,  so  that  I  need  no  longer  be  in  doubt  and  dark- 


182  THE  SCIENCE  AND   ART   OF   EDUCATION. 

ness,  but  have  sure  grounds  to  proceed  upon  under  any  variation  of  cir- 
cumstances. 

"Lastly,  I  have  learned  to  reverence  and  admire  the  great  and  good,  who 
In  different  ages  and  various  countries  have  devoted  their  minds  to  the 
principles  or  the  practice  of  education,  whose  thoughts,  whose  successes, 
whose  very  failures  are  full  of  instruction  for  educators  of  the  present  day, 
especially  for  those  who,  having  been  guided  to  the  sure  basis  upon  which 
true  education  rests,  are  in  a  position  to  judge  of  the  value  of  their  different 
theories  and  plans,  and  to  choose  the  good  and  refuse  the  evil." 

' '  What  you  have  done  for  me,  I  endeavor  to  do  for  my  pupils.  I  make 
them  correct  their  own  errors ;  indeed,  do  their  own  work  as  much  as  pos- 
sible. Since  you  have  been  teaching  me,  my  pupils  have  progressed  in 
mental  development  as  they  have  never  done  in  all  the  years  I  have  been 
teaching.  Though  from  want  of  power  and  early  training  I  have  not  done 
you  the  justice  which  many  of  your  pupils  have,  still  you  have  set  your  seal 
upon  me,  and  made  me  aim  at  being,  what  I  was  not  formerly,  a  scientific 
teacher." 

"...  And  now  to  turn  to  the  modifications  introduced  into  my  practice 
by  these  Lectures.  I  was  delighted  with  them,  and  was  more  astonished 
as  each  week  passed  at  what  I  heard.  New  light  dawned  upoa  me,  and  I 
determined  to  profit  by  it.  I  soon  saw  some  of  the  prodigious  imperfections 
in  my  teaching,  and  set  about  remedying  them.  My  'pupils  should  be  self- 
teachers,'  then  I  must  treat  them  as  such.  I  left  off  telling  them  so  much, 
and  made  them  work  more.  I  discontinued  correcting  their  exercises, 
and  made  them  correct  them  themselves.  I  made  them  look  over  their 
dictation  before  they  wrote  it,  and,  when  it  was  finished,  referred  them  to 
the  text-book  to  see  whether  they  had  written  it  correctly.  .  .  .  Time  would 
fail  me  to  give  in  detail  all  the  alterations  introduced  into  my  practice." 

"In  conclusion,  considering  what  my  theory  and  practice  were  when  I 
entered  your  class,  I  am  convinced  that  the  benefits  I  have  derived  as  re- 
gards both  are  as  follows :  —  (1)  I  have  learned  to  observe,  (2)  to  admire, 
(3)  to  imitate,  and  (4)  to  follow,  Nature.  My  theories  have  become  based 
on  the  firm  foundation  of  principles  founded  on  facts ;  my  practice  (falling 
far  short  of  the  perfection  that  I  aim  at  attaining)  is  nevertheless  in  the 
spirit  of  it.  And  although  in  all  probability  I  shall  never  equal  any  of  these 
great  teachers  whose  lives  and  labors  you  have  described,  yet  I  know  that 
I  shall  daily  improve  in  my  practice  if  I  hold  fast  to  the  principles  that  you 
have  laid  down.  I  consider  you  have  shown  me  the  value  of  a  treasure  that 
I  unconsciously  possessed  —  I  mean  the  power  of  observing  Nature,  and 
therefore  I  feel  towards  you  the  same  sort  of  gratitude  that  the  man  feels 
towards  the  physician  who  has  restored  his  sight." 

These  expressions  will  show  that  my  labors,  however  imperfect, 
have  not  ended  in  mere  talk. 

And  now  it  is  time  to  set  you  free  from  the  long  demand  I  have 
made  on  your  patience.  I  have  studiously  avoided  in  this  Lecture 
tickling  your  ears  with  rhetorical  flourishes.  My  great  master, 


THE   SCIENCE   AND   ART   OF   EDUCATION.  183 

Jacotot,  has  taught  me  that  "  rhetoric  and  reason  have  nothing  in 
common."  I  have  therefore  appealed  to  your  reason.  I  certainly 
might  have  condensed  my  matter  more  ;  but  long  experience  in  the 
art  of  intellectual  feeding  has  convinced  me  that  concentrated  food 
is  not  easy  of  digestion.  But  for  this  fault  —  if  it  be  one  —  and 
for  any  other,  whether  of  commission  or  omission,  I  throw  myself 
on  your  indulgent  consideration. 


THE  TRUE  FOUNDATION 


SCIENCE-TEACHING. 


A  LECTURE. 


[Delivered  at  the  College  of  Preceptors,  Queen  Square,  Bloomsbury, 
December  11,  1872.] 


4 


THE  TRUE  FOUNDATION  OF  SCIENCE- 
TEACHING. 


IT  is  almost  a  truism  to  say,  that  the  foundation  of  a  building 
is  its  most  important  feature.  If  the  foundation  be  either  insecure 
in  itself,  or  laid  without  regard  to  the  plan  of  the  superstructure, 
the  building,  as  a  whole,  will  be  found  wanting  both  in  unity  and 
strength.  A  building  is  in  fact  the  embodiment  and  realization  of 
an  idea  conceived  in  the  mind  of  the  architect,  and  if  he  is  com- 
petent for  his  post,  and  can  secure  the  needful  co-operation,  the 
practical  expression  will  symmetrically  correspond  to  the  conception. 
But  unless  the  foundation  is  solidly  laid,  and  all  the  parts  of  the 
building  are  constructed  with  relation  to  it,  his  aesthetic  and 
theoretic  skill  will  go  for  little  or  nothing.  His  work  is  doomed  to 
failure  from  the  beginning,  and  the  extent  of  the  failure  will  be 
proportionate  to  the  ambition  of  the  design.  These  remarks  are 
applicable  to  the  art  of  building  generally,  whether  shown  in  large 
and  imposing  structures,  or  in  the  meanest  cottages.  In  no  case 
can  the  essential  elements  of  unity  and  strength  be  dispensed  with. 

In  these  preliminary  observations  I  have  foreshadowed  the  sub- 
ject with  which  I  have  to  deal  — that  of  Science-teaching  —  whether 
carried  on  under  the  direction  of  a  Science  and  Art  Department, 
or  in  the  smallest  class  of  a  private  school ;  and  my  purpose  is  to 
ascertain  how  far  the  ideal  of  theory  is  realized  in  the  general 
practice. 

Whatever  might  have  been  said  of  the  neglect  of  what  is  called 
"science"  in  former  times,  we  cannot  make  the  same  complaint 
now.  A  ringing  chorus  of  voices  may  be  heard  vociferously 
demanding  science  for  the  children  of  primary,  secondary,  and 
public  schools ;  for  the  Universities ;  in  short,  for  all  classes  of 
society.  "  Science,"  it  is  said,  "  is  the  grand  desideratum  of  our 
age,  the  true  mark  of  our  civilization.  We  want  science  to  supply 
a  mental  discipline  unfurnished  by  the  old-estalished  curriculum ; 
we  want  it  as  the  basis  of  the  technical  instruction  of  our 
workmen." 


188      THE   TRUE   FOUNDATION   OF   SCIENCE-TEACHING. 

In  answer  to  this  universal  demand  we  see  something  called 
Science-teaching  finding  its  way  into  primary,  and  even  into  public 
schools,  in  spite  of  the  declaration  of  an  eminent  Head-master,  not 
longer  back  than  1863,  that  instruction  in  physical  science,  in 
the  way  in  which  it  could  be  given  in  Winchester  School,  was 
"•  worthless  ;  "  that  a  "  scientific  fact  was  a  fact  which  produced 
nothing  in  a  boy's  mind;"  and  that  this  kind  of  instruction 
"gave  no  power  whatever."  We  further  see  this  something, 
called  Science,  stimulated  by  grants  and  prizes,  through  the  vast 
machinery  of  the  Science  and  Art  Department ;  and  lastly  we 
have,  at  this  moment,  a  Royal  Commission  of  eminent  scientific 
men,  taking  evidence  and  furnishing  Reports  on  "  Scientific  in- 
struction and  the  advancement  of  Science."  Who,  after  this, 
will  be  bold  enough  to  say  that  Science  is  not  looking  up  in  the 
knowledge-market  ? 

But  amidst  all  the  clamor  of  voices  demanding  instruction  in 
Science,  we  listen  in  vain  for  the  authoritative  voice  —  the  voice  of 
the  master  artist  —  which  shall  define  for  us  the  aims  and  ends  of 
Science,  and  lay  down  the  laws  of  that  teaching  by  which  they  are 
to  be  effectively  secured.  As  things  go,  every  teacher  is  left  to 
frame  his  own  theory  of  Science-teaching,  and  his  own  empirical 
method  of  carrying  it  out ;  and  the  result  is,  to  apply  our  illustra- 
tion, that  the  fabric  of  Science-teaching  now  rising  before  us  rests 
upon  no  recognized  and  established  foundation,  exhibits  no  prin- 
ciple of  harmonious  design,  and  that  its  various  stages  have 
scarcely  any  relation  to  each  other,  xind  least  of  all  to  any  solidly 
compacted  ground-plan. 

Before  I  proceed  further  in  the  task  I  have  undertaken,  I  think 
it  wise,  certainly  politic,  to  defend  myself  against  the  charge  which 
justly  attaches  to  him  who  ventures  to  speak  with  confidence  on 
a  subject  with  which  he  is  not  largely  and  experimentally  ac- 
quainted. 

It  may  be  said  with  too  much  truth,  that  I  am  in  this  predica- 
ment. I  am  not,  and  do  not  for  a  moment  pretend  to  be,  a  man  of 
science.  Scientific  matters  have,  it  is  true,  always  been  intensely 
interesting  to  me  from  the  time  when,  as  a  schoolboy,  I  used  to 
stuff  a  volume  of  Joyce's  Scientific  Dialogues  into  my  pocket  to 
read  when  I  ought  to  have  been  playing ;  but  I  was  never  trained 
in  the  method  of  Science,  nor  experienced  what  I  have  so  often 
conceived,  the  intense  delight  of  the  scientific  investigator. 

But  though  not  qualified  by  scientific  knowledge  to  speak  of 


THE   TRUE   FOUNDATION    OF   SCIENCE-TEACHING.      189 

Science,  I  may  venture,  as  a  teacher,  to  say  something  about 
teaching ;  and,  as  Science-teaching  is  a  compound  term,  to  hope 
that  any  ignorance  I  may  display  in  treating  one  of  the  factors, 
will  be  pardoned  me,  if  I  can  bring  some  few  considerations  de- 
rived from  experience  in  education,  to  bear  upon  the  other,  which 
is,  from  my  present  point  of  view,  the  more  important. 

The  only  other  preliminary  remark  that  I  need  make  is  this,  that, 
as  our  subject  is  the  foundation  of  Science-teaching,  I  am  excused, 
by  the  nature  of  my  purpose,  from  dealing  with  the  higher  Science- 
teaching,  presumably  built  upon  that  foundation.  It  is  the  founda- 
tion that,  according  to  my  view,  requires  the  most  attention. 

The  first  question  for  consideration  is,  "  What  is  meant  by 
Science?  "  The  shortest  answer  that  can  be  given  is,  that  "  Science 
is  organized  knowledge."  This  is,  however,  too  general  for  our 
present  purpose,  which  is,  to  deal  with  Physical  Science.  In  a 
somewhat  developed  form,  then,  physical  science  is  an  organized 
knowledge  of  material,  concrete,  objective  facts  or  phenomena. 
The  term  "  organized,"  it  will  be  seen,  is  the  essence  of  the  defi- 
nition, inasmuch  as  it  connotes  or  implies  that  certain  objective 
relations  subsisting  in  the  nature  of  things,  between  facts  or  phe- 
nomena, are  subjectively  appreciated  by  the  mind  —  that  is,  that 
Science  differs  from  mere  knowledge  by  being  a  knowledge  both 
of  facts,  and  of  their  relations  to  each  other.  The  mere  random, 
haphazard  accumulation  of  facts,  then,  is  not  Science  ;  but  the  per- 
ception and  conception  of  their  natural  relations  to  each  other,  the 
comprehension  of  these  relations  under  general  laws,  and  the 
organization  of  facts  and  laws  into  one  body,  the  parts  of  which 
are  seen  to  be  subservient  to  each  other,  is  Science. 

Returning  to  the  other  factor  of  the  definition,  "Knowledge," 
we  observe  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  knowledge  —  what  we 
know  through  our  own  experience,  and  what  we  know  through 
the  experience  of  others.  Thus,  I  know  by  my  own  knowledge 
that  I  have  an  audience  before  me,  and  I  know  through  the  knowl- 
edge of  others  that  the  earth  is  25,000  miles  in  circumference. 
This  latter  fact,  however,  I  know  in  a  sense  different  from  that  in 
which  I  know  the  former.  The  one  is  a  part  of  my  experience,  of 
m}-  very  being.  The  other  I  can  only  be  strictly  said  to  know  when 
I  have,  by  an  effort  of  the  mind,  passed  through  the  connected 
chain  of  facts  and  reasonings  on  which  the  demonstration  is 
founded.  Thus  only  can  it  become  my  knowledge  in  the  true  sense 
of  the  term. 


190       THE  TRUE  FOUNDATION   OF   SCIENCE-TEACHING. 

Strictly  speaking,  then,  organized  knowledge,  or  Science,  is 
originally  based  on  unorganized  knowledge,  and  is  the  outcome  of 
the  learner's  own  observation  of  facts  through  the  exercise  of  his 
own  senses,  and  his  own  reflection  upon  what  he  has  observed. 
This  knowledge,  ultimately  organized  into  Science  through  the 
operation  of  his  mind,  he  may  with  just  right  call  his  own  ;  and, 
as  a  learner,  he  can  properly  call  no  other  knowledge  his  own. 
What  is  reported  to  us  by  another  is  that  other's,  if  gained  at 
first-hand  by  experience  ;  but  it  stands  on  a  different  footing  from 
that  which  we  have  gained  by  our  own  experience.  He  merely 
hands  it  over  to  us ;  but  when  we  receive  it,  its  condition  is  al- 
ready changed.  It  wants  the  brightness,  definiteness,  and  cer- 
tainty in  our  eyes,  which  it  had  in  his  ;  and,  moreover,  it  is  merely 
a  loan,  and  not  our  property.  The  fact,  for  instance,  about  the 
earth's  circumference  was  to  him  a  living  fact ;  it  sprang  into 
being  as  the  outcome  of  experiments  and  reasonings,  with  the 
entire  chain  of  which  it  was  seen  by  him  to  be  intimately — indeed 
indissolubly  and  organically  connected.  To  us  it  is  a  dead  fact, 
severed  from  its  connection  with  the  body  of  truth,  and,  by  our 
hypothesis,  having  no  organic  relation  to  the  living  truths  we 
have  gained  by  our  own  minds.  These  are  convertible  into  our 
Science ;  that  is  not.  What  I  insist  on  then  is,  that  the  knowl- 
edge from  experience  —  that  which  is  gained  by  bringing  our  own 
minds  into  direct  contact  with  matter  —  is  the  only  knowledge  that 
as  novices  in  science  we  have  to  do  with.  The  dogmatic  knowledge 
imposed  on  us  by  authority,  though  originally  gained  by  the  same 
means,  is,  really,  not  ours,  but  another's  —  is,  as  far  as  we  are  con- 
cerned, unorganizable ;  and  therefore,  though  Science  to  its  pro- 
prietor, is  not  Science  to  us.  To  us  it  is  merely  information,  or 
haphazard  knowledge. 

The  conclusions,  then,  at  which  we  arrive,  are —  (1)  That  the 
true  foundation  of  physical  Science  lies  in  the  knowledge  of 
physical  facts  gained  at  first-hand  by  observation  and  experiment, 
to  be  made  by  the  learner  himself ;  (2)  that  all  knowledge  not  thus 
gained  is,  pro  tanto,  unorganizable,  and  not  suited  to  his  actual 
condition ;  and  (3)  that  his  facts  become  organized  into  Science 
by  the  operation  of  his  own  mind  upon  them. 

Having  given  some  idea  of  what  is  meant  by  Science,  and  how 
it  grows  up  in  the  mind  of  the  learner,  I  turn  now  to  the  teacher, 
and  briefly  inquire  what  is  his  function  in  the  process  of  Science- 
teaching  ? 


THE   TllUE  FOUNDATION   OF   SCIENCE-TEACHING.      191 

I  have  elsewhere*  endeavored  to  expound  the  correlation  of 
learning  and  teaching,  and  to  show  that  the  natural  process  of 
investigation  by  which  the  unassisted  student  —  unassisted,  that  is 
by  book  or  teacher,  —  would  seek,  as  a  first  discoverer,  to  gain  au 
accurate  knowledge  of  facts  and  their  interpretation,  suggests  to 
us  both  the  nature  and  scope  of  the  teacher's,  and  especially  the 
Science-teacher's,  functions.  According  to  this  view  of  the  sub- 
ject, the  learner's  method,  and  the  teacher's,  serve  as  a  mutual 
limit  to  each  other.  The  learner  is  a  discoverer  or  investigator 
engaged  in  interrogating  the  concrete  matter  before  him,  with  a 
view  to  ascertain  its  nature  and  properties  :  and  the  teacher  is  a 
superintendent  or  director  of  the  learner's  process,  pointing  out 
the  problem  to  be  solved,  concentrating  the  learner's  attention 
upon  it,  varying  the  points  of  view,  suggesting  experiments,  in- 
quiring what  they  result  in  ;  converting  even  errors  and  mistakes 
into  means  of  increased  power,  bringing  back  the  old  to  interpret 
the  new,  the  known  to  interpret  the  unknown,  requiring  an  exact 
record  of  results  arrived  at  —  in  short,  exercising  all  the  powers  of 
the  learner's  mind  upon  the  matter  in  hand,  in  order  to  make  him 
an  accurate  observer  and  experimenter,  and  to  train  him  in  the 
method  of  investigation. 

The  teacher,  then,  is  to  be  governed  in  his  teaching,  not  by  in- 
dependent notions  of  his  own,  but  by  considerations  inherent  in 
the  natural  process  by  which  the  pupil  learns.  He  is  not,  there- 
fore, at  liberty  to  ignore  this  natural  process,  which  essentially 
involves  the  observation,  experiment,  and  reflection  of  the  pupil ; 
nor  to  supersede  it  by  intruding  the  results  of  the  observation, 
experiment,  and  reflection  of  others.  He  is,  on  the  contrary, 
bound  to  recognize  these  operations  of  his  pupil's  mind  as  the 
true  foundation  of  the  Science-teaching  which  he  professes  to  carry 
out.  In  other  words,  the  process  of  the  learner  is  the  true  foun- 
dation of  that  of  the  teacher. 

This  sketch  would  be  sufficient  were  it  merely  my  object  to 
present  a  theory.  But  as  I  am  seriously  in  earnest,  and  wish  to 
see  the  claims  of  Science  vindicated,  and  the  teaching  of  its  facts, 
principles,  and  laws  placed  on  a  totally  different  ground  from 
that  which  it  now  generally  occupies,  I  must  pursue  the  subject 
further. 

It  will  have  been  observed,  that  I  lay  great  stress  on  teaching 

*  See  a  Lecture  entitled  "Theories  of  Teaching  with  the  corresponding  Practice,"  delivered 
April  26, 1869,  at  the  Rooms  of  the  Association  for  the  Promotion  of  Social  Science. 


192       THE   TEUE  FOUNDATION   OF   SCIENCE-TEACHING. 

Science  in  such  a  way  that  it  shall  become  a  real  training  of  the 
student  in  the  method  of  Science,  with  a  view  to  the  forming  of 
the  scientific  mind.  According  to  the  usual  methods  of  Science- 
teaching,  it  is  quite  possible  for  a  student  to  "get  up,"  by  cram- 
ming, a  number  of  books  on  scientific  subjects,  to  attend  lecture 
after  lecture  on  the  same  subjects,  to  be  drenched  with  endless 
explanations  and  comments  on  descriptions  of  experiments  per- 
formed by  others,  to  lodge  in  his  memory  the  technical  results  of 
investigations  in  which  he  has  taken  no  part  himself,  together 
with  formulae,  rules,  and  definitions  ad  iiifinilum,  and  yet,  after  all, 
never  to  have  even  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  idea  involved  in  in- 
vestigation, or  to  have  been  for  a  moment  animated  by  the  spirit  of 
the  scientific  explorer.  That  spirit  is  a  spirit  of  power,  which,  not 
content  with  the  achievements  gained  by  others,  seeks  to  make 
conquests  of  its  own,  and  therefore  examines,  explores,  discovers, 
and  invents  for  itself.  These  are  the  manifestations  of  the  spirit 
of  investigation,  and  that  spirit  may  be  excited  by  the  true  Science- 
teacher  in  the  heart  of  a  little  child.  I  ma}*  refer,  for  proof  of 
this  assertion,  to  the  teaching  of  botany  to  poor  village  children  by 
the  late  Professor  Henslow ;  to  the  teaching  of  general  Science  by 
the  late  Dean  Dawes  to  a  similar  class  of  children  ;  to  that  pursued 
at  the  present  time  at  the  Bristol  Trade  School ;  and  to  the  in- 
valuable lessons  given  to  the  imaginary  Harry  and  Lucy  by  Miss 
Edgeworth.  "Without  warranting  every  process  adopted  by  these 
eminently  successful  teachers,  some  of  whom  were  perhaps  a  little 
too  much  addicted  to  explaining,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  declaring 
that  they  one  and  all  acted  mainby  on  the  principle  that  true 
Science-teaching  consists  in  bringing  the  pupil's  mind  into  direct 
contact  with  facts  —  in  getting  him  to  investigate,  discover,  and 
invent  for  himself.  The  same  method  is  recommended  in  Miss 
Youmans'  philosophical  Essay  "On  the  Culture  of  the  Observing 
powers  of  children,"*  and  rigorously  applied  in  her  "  First  Lessons 
on  Botany  ;  "  and  in  the  Supplement  to  that  little  volume  I  have 
given,  as  its  editor,  a  typical  lesson  on  the  pile-driving  engine, 
which  illustrates  the  following  principles  :  — 

1.  That  the  pupils,  throughout  the  lesson,  are  learning  —  i.  e., 
teaching  themselves,  by  the  exercise  of  their  own  minds,  without, 
and  not  by,  the  explanations  of  the  teacher. 

*  "  An  Essay  on  the  Culture  of  the  Observing  Powers  of  Children,  especially  In  connection 
\v:th  the  Study  of  Botany.  By  Eliza  A.  Youmans,  of  New  York,  with  Notes  and  a  Sup- 
plement by  Joseph  Payne."  llenry  S.  King  &  Co.,  Cornhlll,  1872. 


THE  TRUE  FOUNDATION   OF   SCIENCE-TEACHING.      193 

2.  That  the  pupils  gain  their  knowledge  from  the  object  itself, 
not  from  a  description  of  the  object  furnished  by  another. 

3.  That  the  observations  and  experiments  are  their  own  obser- 
vations and  experiments,  made  by  their  own  senses  and  by  their 
own  hands,  as  investigators  seeking  to  ascertain  for  themselves 
what  the  object  before  them  is,  and  what  it  is  capable  of  doing. 

4.  That  the  teacher  recognizes  his  proper  function  as  that  of  a 
guide  or  director  of  the  pupil's  process  of  self-teaching,  which  he 
aids  by  moral  means,  but  does  not  supersede  by  the  intervention  of 
his  own  knowledge. 

These  hints  all  tend  to  show  what  is  really  meant  by  Science- 
teaching,  as  generally  distinguished  from  other  teaching. 

In  case,  however,  my  competency  to  give  an  opinion  on  Science- 
teaching  should  be  questioned,  I  beg  to  enforce  my  views  by  the 
authority  of  Professor  Huxley,  who,  in  a  lecture  on  "  Scientific 
Education,"  thus  expresses  himself :  —  "If  scientific  training  is  to 
yield  its  most  eminent  results,  it  must  be  made  practical  —  that  is 
to  say,  in  explaining  to  a  child  the  general  phenomena  of  nature, 
you  must,  as  far  as  possible,  give  reality  to  j'oar  teaching  by 
object-lessons.  In  teaching  him  botany,  he  must  handle  the  plants 
and  dissect  the  flowers  for  himself;  in  teaching  him  physics  and 
chemistry,  you  must  not  be  solicitous  to  fill  him  with  information, 
but  you  must  be  careful  that  what  he  learns  he  knows  of  his  own 
knowledge.  Do  not  be  satisfied  with  telling  him  that  a  magnet 
attracts  iron.  Let  him  see  that  it  does  ;  let  him  feel  the  pull  of 
the  one  upon  the  other  for  himself.  .  .  .  Pursue  this  discipline 
carefully  and  conscientiously,  and  you  may  make  sure  that,  however 
scanty  may  be  the  measure  of  information  which  you  have  poured 
into  the  boy's  mind,  you  have  created  an  intellectual  habit  of 
priceless  value  in  practical  life." 

Again,  in  the  same  lecture,  the  Professor  says,  —  "If  the  great 
benefits  of  scientific  training  are  sought,  it  is  essential  that  such 
training  should  be  real  — that  is  to  say  that  the  mind  of  the  scholar 
should  be  brought  into  direct  relation  with  fact ;  that  he  should  not 
merely  be  told  a  thing,  but  made  to  see,  by  the  use  of  his  own 
intellect  and  ability,  that  the  thing  is  so,  and  not  otherwise.  The 
great  peculiarity  of  scientific  training  —  that  in  virtue  of  which  it 
cannot  be  replaced  by  any  other  discipline  whatever  —  is  this 
bringing  of  the  mind  directly  into  contact  with  fact,  and  practising 
the  mind  in  the  completest  form  of  induction  —  that  is  to  say,  iu 
drawing  conclusions  from  particular  facts  made  known  by  im- 
mediate observations  of  Nature." 


194       THE  TRUE  FOUNDATION   OF   SCIENCE-TEACHING. 

To  the  same  effect  another  eminent  Science-teacher,  Mr.  Wilson, 
of  Rugby  School,  thus  expresses  himself.  "Theory  and  experi- 
ence," he  sa}-s,  "alike  convince  me  that  the  master  who  is  teach- 
ing a  class  quite  unfamiliar  with  scientific  method,  ought  to  make 
his  class  teach  themselves,  by  thinking  out  the  subject  of  the 
lecture  with  them,  taking  up  their  suggestions  and  illustrations, 
criticising  them,  hunting  them  down,  and  proving  a  suggestion 
barren  or  an  illustration  inapt ;  starting  them  on  a  fresh  scent 
when  they  tire  at  fault,  reminding  them  of  some  familiar  fact  they 
had  overlooked,  and  so  eliciting  out  of  the  chaos  of  vague  notions 
that  are  afloat  on  the  matter  in  hand,  be  it  the  laws  of  motion,  tha 
evaporation  of  water,  or  the  origin  of  the  drift,  something  of  order, 
concatenation,  and  interest,  before  the  key  to  the  mystery  is  given, 
even  if,  at  all,  it  has  to  be  given.  Training  to  think,  not  to  be  a 
mechanic  or  a  surveyor,  must  be  first  and  foremost  as  his  object. 
So  valuable  are  the  subjects  intrinsically,  and  such  excellent  models 
do  they  provide,  that  the  most  stupid  and  didactic  teaching  will 
not  be  useless ;  but  it  will  not  be  the  same  source  of  power  that 
the  method  of  investigation  will  be-  in  the  hands  of  a  good 
master." 

My  last  quotation  will  be  from  the  very  valuable  lecture  given 
here  by  Dr.  Kemshead,  the  able  Science-teacher  of  Dulwich  College, 
on  "  The  Importance  of  Physical  Science  as  a  branch  of  English 
General  Education."  Referring  to  education  generally,  he  says, 
and  I  entirely  agree  with  him,  —  "I  wish  it  particularly  to  be  borne 
in  mind  that,  whenever  I  use  the  word  education,  I  use  it  in  its 
highest  and  truest  sense  of  training  and  developing  the  mind.  I 
hold  the  acquisition  of  mere  useful  knowledge,  however  important 
and  valuable  it  may  be,  to  be  entirely  secondary  and  subsidiary. 
I  consider  it  to  be  of  more  value  to  teach  the  young  mind  to  think 
out  one  original  problem,  to  draw  one  correct  conclusion  for  itself, 
than  to  have  acquired  the  whole  of  '  Manguall's  Questions '  or 
'  Brewer's  Guide  to  Science.' '  There  speaks  the  true  teacher. 
But  what  does  he  say  on  Science-teaching?  This:  —  "I  wish 
particularly  to  draw  the  distinction  between  mere  scientific  knowl- 
edge and  scientific  training.  I  do  not  believe  in  the  former  ;  I  do 
believe  in  the  latter.  In  physical  and  experimental  science,  studied 
for  the  sake  of  training,  the  mode  of  teaching  is  everything.  I 
know  of  one  school  [we  shall  soon  see  that  there  are  man}-  such]  in 
which  physical  science  is  made  a  strong  point  in  the  prospectus, 
where  chemistry  is  taught  by  reading  a  text-book  (a  very  anti- 
quated one,  since  it  only  gives  forty-five  elements) ,  but  in  which 

\ 


THE   TBUE   FOUNDATION   OF    SCIENCE-TEACHING.      195 

the  experiments  are  learnt  by  heart,  and  never  seen  practically. 
Such  a  proceeding  is  a  mere  farce  ou  Science."  But  Dr.  Kcmshead 
proceeds,  —  "Of  course,  as  mere  useful  knowledge,  Lardner's 
hand-books,  or  any  other  good  text-books,  might  be  committed  to 
memory.  So  long  as  the  facts  are  correct,  and  are  put  in  a  manner 
that  the  pupil  can  receive  them,  the  end  is  gained ;  but  this  is 
not  scientific  teaching  —  cramming  if  you  like,  but  not  teaching. 
It  will  I  am  sure,  be  manifest  to  you  all  that  there  is  nothing  of 
scientific  training  in  this.  To  develop  scientific  habits  of  thought 
—  the  scientific  mind,  the  teaching  must  be  of  a  totally  different 
nature.  In  order  to  get  the  fullest  benefit  from  a  scientific  educa- 
tion, the  teacher  should  endeavor  to  bring  his  pupil  face  to  face 
with  the  great  problems  of  Nature,  as  though  he  were  the  first 
discoverer.  He  should  encourage  him  from  the  first  to  record 
accurately  all  his  experiments,  the  object  he  had  in  view  iu 
making  them,  the  results  even  when  they  have  failed,  and  the 
inferences  which  he  draws  in  each  case,  with  as  much  rigor  and 
exactitude  as  though  the}'  were  to  be  published  in  the  '  Philosophical 
Transactions.'  He  should,  in  fact,  teach  his  pupil  to  face  the 
great  problems  of  Nature  as  though  they  had  never  been  solved 
before." 

"  To  face  the  great  problems  of  Nature  as  though  they  had  never 
been  solved  before  "  —  "to  bring  the  child  face  to  face  with  the 
great  problems  of  Nature,  as  though  he  were  the  first  discoverer" 
—  these  weighty,  pregnant,  and  luminous  expressions  contain  the 
essence  of  the  whole  question  I  have  endeavored  to  set  before  you. 
They  define,  as  you  easily  perceive,  the  attitude  of  the  pupil  in 
regard  to  his  subjective  process  of  learning,  and  the  function  of 
the  teacher  iu  regard  to  his  objective  process  of  teaching  —  the  one 
being  the  counterpart  of  the  other. 

It  will  have  been  noticed,  perhaps,  that  nothing  has  been  said 
of  text- books,  which  some  consider  as  "  the  true  foundation  of 
Science-teaching."  The  reason  of  this  omission  lies  in  the  nature 
of  things.  The  books  of  a  true  student  of  physical  Science  are  the 
associated  facts  and  phenomena  of  Nature.  He  finds  them  in  "  the 
running  brooks,"  the  mountains,  trees,  and  rocks;  wherever,  in 
short,  he  is  brought  face  to  face  witli  facts  and  phenomena ;  these 
are  the  pages,  whose  sentences,  phrases,  words,  and  letters  he  is 
to  decipher  and  interpret  by  his  own  investigation.  The  inter- 
vention of  a  text-book,  so  called,  between  the  student  and  the 
matter  he  is  to  study,  is  an  impertinence.  For  what  is  such  a  text- 
book? A  compendium  of  observations  and  experiments  made  by 


THE   TRUE  FOUNDATION  OF   SCIENCE-TEACHING. 


others  in  view  of  that  very  nature-book  which,  by  the  hypothesis, 
he  is  to  study  at  first-hand  for  himself,  and  of  definitions,  rules, 
generalizations,  and  classifications  which  he  is,  through  the  active 
powers  of  his  mind,  to  make  fcr  himself.  The  student's  own 
method  of  study  is  the  true  method  of  Science.  He  is  being  gra- 
dually initiated  in  the  processes  by  which  both  knowledge,  truly 
his  own,  and  the  power  of  gaining  more,  are  secured.  Why  should 
we  supersede  and  neutralize  his  energies,  and  altogether  dis- 
organize his  plan  by  requiring  him  to  receive  on  authority  the 
results  of  other  people's  labors  in  the  same  field?  Again,  a  text- 
book on  Science  is  a  logically-constructed  treatise,  in  which  the 
propositions  last  arrived  at  by  the  author  are  presented  first  —  in 
the  reverse  order  to  that  followed  by  the  method  of  Science.  The 
sufficient  test  of  the  use  of  books  in  Science-teaching,  is,  in  fact, 
this  :  Do  they  train  the  mind  to  scientific  method  ?  If  they  do  not  — 
if  on  the  contrary,  they  discountenance  that  method,  —  then  they 
are  to  be  rejected  in  that  elementary  work  —  the  foundation  of 
Science-teaching  —  with  which  alone  we  are  here  concerned.  Once 
more,  I  appeal  to  Prof.  Huxley,  who  tells  us'  that,  "If  Scientific 
education  is  to  be  dealt  with  as  mere  book-work,  it  will  be  better 
not  to  attempt  it,  but  to  stick  to  the  Latin  Grammar,  which  makes 
no  pretense  to  be  anything  but  book-  work."  Again,  in  his  Lec- 
ture to  Teachers,  —  "  But  let  me  entreat  you  to  remember  my 
last  words.  Mere  book  learning  in  physical  Science  is  a  sham 
and  a  delusion.  "What  you  teach,  unless  you  wish  to  be  impostors, 
that  you  must  first  know  ;  and  real  knowledge  in  Science  means 
personal  acquaintance  with  the  facts,  be  they  few  or  many  ?  "  But 
I  must  add  to  these  authoritative  words  those  of  Dr.  Acland, 
who,  when  asked  by  the  Public  Schools  Commission  his  opinion  of 
the  London  University  Examinations  in  Physical  Science,  thus 
replied:  —  "  I  may  say,  generall}',  that  I  should  value  all  knowl- 
edge of  these  physical  sciences  very  little  indeed  unless  it  was 
otherwise  than  book-work.  If  it  is  merely  a  question  of  getting 
up  certain  books,  and  being  able  to  answer  certain  book  questions 
that  is  merely  an  exercise  of  the  memory  of  a  very  useless  kind. 
The  great  object,  though  not  the  sole  object,  of  this  training 
should  be  to  get  the  boys  to  .observe  and  understand  the  action  of 
matter  in  some  department  or  another.  ...  I  want  them  to  see 
and  know  the  things,  and  in  that  way  they  will  evoke  many  quali- 
ties of  the  mind,  which  the  study  of  these  subjects  is  intended  to 
develop."  (vol.  iv.  p.  407).  These  words  sufficiently  show  both 
what  the  true  foundation  is,  and  what  it  is  not.  Once  more  —  for 


THE  TRUE   FOUNDATION   OF   SCIENCE-TEACHING.      197 

the  importance  of  this  matter  can  hardly  be  too  much  insisted  on 
—  hear  what  Prof.  Kuxley  says,  in  his  evidence  before  the  Commis- 
sion on  Scientific  Instruction  (p.  23)  :  —  "  The  great  blunder  that 
our  people  make,  I  think,  is  attempting  to  teach  from  books ; 
our  schoolmasters  have  largely  been  taught  from  books  and  noth- 
ing but  books,  and  a  great  many  of  them  understand  nothing  but 
book-teaching,  as  far  as  I  can  see.  The  consequence  is,  that  when 
they  attempt  to  deal  with  Scientific  teaching,  they  make  nothing 
of  it.  If  you  are  setting  to  work  to  teach  a  child  Science,  you 
must  teach  it  through  its  eyes,  and  its  hands,  and  its  senses." 

Having  now  obtained  some  notion  of  the  true  foundation  of 
Science-teaching,  we  proceed  to  inquire  where,  and  by  whom, 
this  notion  of  it  is  carried  out?  At  this  point  our  ears  are 
saluted  by  a  thousand  voices,  crying  out,  "Here  —  here  Science 
is  taught !  This  —  this  is  the  place  you  are  seeking  !  "  We  follow 
the  voices,  and  find,  in  a  multitude  of  cases,  that  the  thing  called 
Science-teaching  has  no  feature  in  common  with  that  of  which 
we  are  in  search.  We  find  cramming  by  text-books,  cramming 
by  lectures,  experimenting  done  for,  and  not  by,  the  students, 
&c. ;  and  only  here  and  there  do  we  find  Science-teaching  pursued 
by  the  method  of  investigation  —  the  only  method  by  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  best  authorities,  it  can  be  pursued  so  as  to  gain 
really  valuable  results  —  results  worthy  of  the  high  dignity  of  the 
subject.  But  in  the  midst  of  our  bewilderment,  we  hear  the  loud 
voices  of  the  Science  and  Art  Department  declaring,  authorita- 
tively, that  the}'  can  show  .us  what  we  are  seeking  for.  "  Look," 
they  say,  "  at  our  800  or  900  Science  schools  and  classes  ;  examine 
carefully  our  38,000  pupils  ;  see  the  liberal  grants  and  the  numer- 
ous prizes  that  we  give  every  year  to  reward  the  teachers  and  the 
cultivators  of  Science.  What  we  are  doing  for  Science  is  wonder- 
ful. Have  we  not  twenty-three  Sciences  in  our  curriculum,  and 
twenty-three  eminent  professional  examiners  to  ascertain  that  they 
are  well  learnt  and  taught  ?"  Our  spirit  rises  to  enthusiasm  at 
these  tidings.  We  long  to  enter  the  schools,  and  observe  the 
studies  of  the  38,000  pupils,  all  presumably  pursuing  the  true 
method  of  investigation  under  teachers  who  understand  it,  and  all, 
in  their  different  stages  of  advancement,  gradually  acquiring  the 
scientific  mind.  Seeing,  moreover,  the  great  name  of  Prof. 
Huxley  in  the  list  of  examiners,  and  knowing  what  his  often- 
expressed  notions  on  Science-teaching  are,  we  look  forward  with 
delight  to  the  exemplification  of  it  in  the  Science  schools  and 
classes.  Before,  however,  we  enter  on  our  personal  inquiry,  we 


IDS       THE   TRUE   FOUNDATION    OF    SCIENCE-TEACHING. 

turn  to  the  Directory  of  the  Science  Department,  to  discover  the 
views  of  the  Department  on  the  theory  of  Science-teaching,  or  at 
least  a  definition  of  Science  which  may  serve  as  a  guide  to  the 
practical  operations  of  those  who  are  engaged  in  carrying  out  its 
views.  Not  one  word,  however,  do  we  find  to  enlighten  us  on  this 
essential  point,  nor  a  single  hint  as  to  the  true  method  of  Science- 
teaching.  All  that  we  ascertain  at  our  first  glance  is,  that  Science 
—  is  Science.  Our  enthusiasm  is  somewhat  damped ;  but  on  look- 
ing a  little  more  closely,  we  come  upon  the  formidable  array  of 
twenty-three  Sciences,  which  the  Department  takes  under  its 
charge,  or  for  "  promoting  instruction  "  in  which  it  gives  "grants  " 
as  a  "  stimulus  to  the  founding  and  maintenance  of  Science  schools 
and  classes."  We  fail,  however,  to  find  in  the  Directory  what  we 
wish  to  know  about  the  spirit  of  the  teaching  ;  whether  it  is  such 
as  to  realize  "  the  great  benefits  "  of  which  Prof.  Huxley  speaks  ; 
such  as  to  "  ensure  real  knowledge  and  practical  discipline ; " 
such  as  "  to  bring  the  mind  directly  into  contact  with  facts  ;  "  such 
as  "to  practise  the  mind  in  the  completest  form  of  induction." 
"VVe  turn,  therefore,  to  the  Examination  questions  published  by  the 
Department,  not  doubting  to  detect  in  the  nature  of  the  questions 
the  character  of  the  instruction  given ;  the  proof,  in  short,  that 
this  instruction  has  been  "  real  and  practical,"  and  that  the  ques- 
tions are  intended  to  ascertain  "what  the  learner  knows  of  his 
own  knowledge,"  as  Prof.  Huxley  pithily  phrases  it.  After 
poring,  however,  over  the  ninety-one  pages  of  Examination  papers, 
the  only  question  that  can  be  found  which  seems  to  answer  the 
requirement  that  the  learner  is  to  describe  "  what  he  knows  of  his 
own  knowledge,"  is  one  of  Prof.  Huxley's.  Here  it  is  —  "  How 
are  sniffing  and  sneezing  effected?"  This  seems  to  point  to 
practical  experience  —  but  even  here  there  is  some  room  for 
doubt. 

The  suspicions,  then,  that  we  entertained  when  we  found  that 
the  Science  Department  omitted  to  furnish  a  theory  or  definition  of 
Science  to  work  up  to,  and  any  hint  respecting  the  true  method  of 
teaching  it,  are  confirmed  by  an  examination  of  the  questions  them- 
selves, and  we  come  to  the  inevitable  conclusion  that  the  whole 
scheme  for  promoting  Science  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  a  scheme 
for  promoting  the  cramming  up  of  scientific  text-books,  for  stimu- 
lating that  "  mere  book-work  "  which,  we  have  just  been  told,  is  so 
useless  for  the  purposes  of  Science,  that  we  had  better  "  stick  to 
the  Latin  Grammar  "  than  attempt  to  acquire  it  that  way.  Still  we 
can  hardly  believe  that  great  authorities  on  education  like  "  My 


THE   TRUE   FOUNDATION   OF   SCIENCE-TEACHING.      199 

Lords  "  can  fancy  that  they  are  effectually  promoting  the  interests 
of  Science  by  paying  for  results  gained  by  this  "  mere  book- work," 
which  practically  neutralizes  all  "the  great  benefits"  to  be 
gained  by  true  scientific  training.  All  doubt  on  this  point  is 
however,  removed  when  we  find  page  after  page  of  the  Directory 
filled  up  with  the  titles  of  books  which  are,  on  the  recommendation 
of  "  My  Lords,"  to  help  to  defeat  the  very  conception  of  scientific 
teaching. 

But  we  may  inquire  for  a  moment,  How  does  this  scheme  act  on 
the  future  interests  of  Science  as  far  as  teachers  are  concerned  ? 
In  this  way.  As  soon  as  a  young  man  has  crammed  up  a  subject 
from  his  text-book,  he  presents  himself  for  examination.  He 
passes,  and  receives  a  certificate ;  and  then,  though  he  may  never 
have  made  a  single  independent  observation  or  experiment,  may 
never  have  caught  even  a  glimpse  of  scientific  method,  and  may 
be  utterly  without  the  valuable  mental  discipline  which  Prof. 
Huxley  tells  us  cannot  be  replaced  by  any  other,  he  is  ij>so  facto 
qualified  and  accredited  to  teach  Science,  and  to  earn  payments  on 
the  results  of  his  so-called  teaching. 

I  do  not  for  a  moment  deny  that  much  is  to  be  gained  from  the 
study  of  scientific  text-books.  It  would  be  absurd  to  do  so.  What 
I  do  deny  is  that  the  reading  up  of  books  on  Science  —  which  is, 
strictly  speaking,  a  literary  study  —  either  is,  or  can  possibly  be,  a 
training  in  scientific  method.  To  receive  facts  in  Science  on  any 
other  authority  than  that  of  the  facts  themselves ;  to  get  up  the 
observations,  experiments  and  comments  of  others,  instead  of 
observing,  experimenting,  and  commenting  ourselves ;  to  learn 
definitions,  rules,  abstract  propositions,  technicalities,  before  we 
personally  deal  with  the  facts  which  lead  up  to  them  ;  all  this, 
whether  in  literary  or  scientific  education  —  and  especially  in 
the  latter  —  is  of  the  essence  of  cramming,  and  is  therefore 
entirely  opposed  to,  and  destructive  of,  true  mental  training  and 
discipline. 

Therefore  it  is  that  I  see  with  regret  the  vast  machinery  of  the 
Science  Department  —  which,  were  it  reconstructed  and  reorgan- 
ized, might  do  so  much  for  Science  —  doing  in  effect  so  little  —  so 
little,  that  is,  in  proportion  to  its  powers  and  opportunities  — 
to  help  in  laying  the  true  foundation  of  Science-teaching. 

This  question  of  Science-teaching  is,  in  fact,  the  question  of  all 
education,  and  the  process  of  reconstruction  must  be  applied  to 
the  Education  Department  as  well  as  to  the  Science  Department. 
As  things  stand,  these  departments  are  perhaps  the  most  powerful 


200       THE   TRUE   FOUNDATION   OF   SCIENCE-TEACHING. 

promoters  of  mechanical  drill  and  cram  that  the  world  ever  knew. 
Hence  the  deplorable  results  of  the  Revised  Code,  —  one  child  only 
in  sixty-three  throughout  the  primary  schools  of  the  country  being 
able  to  pass  the  6th  Standard :  and  hence,  too,  the  scarcely  less 
deplorable  result  in  the  case  of  Science,  that  that  special  mental 
training  —  that  method  of  investigation  which  constitutes  its  glory, 
is  set  aside  and  treated  as  worthless. 

It  is  pleasant,  however,  to  see  that  light  is  springing  up.  There 
is,  as  I  have  said,  a  Royal  Commission  on  Scientific  Instruction  and 
the  Advancement  of  Science,  now  sitting.  In  their  second  Report, 
published  a  short  time  ago,  occur  these  words  in  reference  to  their 
opinion  that  instruction  in  physical  Science  ought  to  be  a  part  of 
the  curriculum  of  primary  schools.  "  The  instruction,"  they  say, 
"  to  which  we  refer,  though  scientific  in  substance,  should  in  form 
be  devoid  of  needless  technicality,  and  should  be  almost  wholly 
confined  to  such  facts  as  can  be  brought  under  the  direct  observa- 
tion of  the  scholar.  It  should,  in  fact,  be  conveyed  by  object 
lessons,  so  arranged  and  methodized  as  to  give  an  intelligent  idea 
of  those  more  prominent  phenomena  which  lie  around  every  child, 
and  which  he  is  apt  to  pass  without  notice." 

This  is  quite  to  the  point,  and,  if  carried  out  in  a  proper  way, 
will  do  much  to  vindicate  the  neglected  claims  of  Science.  Yet 
even  in  this  Report  it  is  strange  to  notice  the  imperfect  appre- 
ciation of  the  central  principle  of  the  whole  —  the  spirit  and  method 
of  the  teaching.  The  Commissioners  do,  indeed,  say  that,  to 
render  this  instruction  successful,  the  teachers  must  have  been 
,"  carefully  trained  in  the  special  methods  of  teaching  Science  ;  " 
but  they  give  no  hint  as  to  what  these  special  methods  are  — 
whether  their  speciality  consists  in  cramming  up  a  book,  or  in 
learning  from  Nature  and  fact.  There  ought  to  be  no  room  for 
mistake  on  a  point  like  this.  Both  these  processes  go  now  by  the 
name  of  Science-teaching.  Even  Dr.  Carpenter,  who  tells  us  truly 
that  "it  is  the  essence  [mark  the  word]  of  scientific  training  that 
the  mind  finds  the  object  of  its  study  in  the  external  world ;  "  also 
claims  credit,  five  minutes  before,  for  the  work  of  the  University 
of  London,  which  simply  consists  in  examining  those  whose  minds 
"  find  the  objects  of  their  study  "  in  the  pages  of  a  book  ;  who,  to 
use  the  words  of  Agassiz,  "  study  Nature  in  the  house,  and  when 
they  go  out  of  doors  cannot  find  her."  Now,  I  maintain  that  the 
two  teachings  —  if  both  must  be  called  by  the  same  name  —  are  dia- 
metrically opposed  in  spirit,  in  aim,  in  modus  operandi,  in  results ; 


THE   TKUE   FOUNDATION   OF    SCIENCE-TEACHING.      201 

and  that  he  who  loves  the  one  must  hate  the  other.  In  that  serene 
atmosphere  of  Science  in  which  the  eminent  Commissioners  con- 
tinually dwell,  of  course  no  such  feeling  as  "  hate  "  is  possible  ;  but 
I  do  wish  they  had  told  us  in  unmistakeable  language  what  they 
mean  by  the  special  teaching  of  Science,  and  where  we  can  see 
it  exemplified.  It  is  clear  enough  that  such  teaching  is  by  no 
means  universal :  for  we  find  the  Commissioners,  after  having 
had  the  Examiners  of  the  Science  Department  before  them,  de- 
claring to  the  world  that  these  Examiners  are  "under  the  im- 
pression that  a  very  large  part  of  the  instruction  is  derived  from 
books;  and  that  it  is  not  often  illustrated  by  specimens  or 
experiments,  the  use  of  apparatus,  or  the  out-door  study  of 
Nature."  After  rejecting  (in  1870)  15,723  papers  out  of  34,413, 
the  Examiners  certainly  had  some  grounds  for  their  impressions 
(impressions  which  might  have  been  anticipated  from  the  nature  of 
the  case)  ;  but  the  remarkable  point  —  the  amusing  point  in  the 
whole  business,  is  this,  that  the  Commissioners  appear  to  be  sur- 
prised at  these  results  of  the  Science  Department  system.  Surely 
they  had  never  looked  into  the  Directory,  nor  observed  that  the 
essence  of  that  system  is  the  cramming  of  book- work  ;  that  long 
lists  of  books  suitable  for  the  purpose  are  given,  and  not  a  single 
hint  thrown  out  that  the  teaching  is  to  be  practical  or  disciplinary, 
or  to  have  any  connection  whatever  with  Nature  and  fact.  The 
fruits,  then,  are  the  proper  fruits  of  the  tree ;  they  could  hardly 
have  been  other  than  they  are ;  and  it  is  perhaps  a  little  incon- 
siderate on  the  part  of  the  Commissioners  to  reproach,  even  in  this 
delicate  way,  the  Science-teaching  system  which  "  My  Lords,"  in 
their  wisdom,  have  sanctioned  and  promoted.  One  hopes,  of 
course,  that  "My  Lords"  will  not  be  so  imprudent  as  to  reply 
that  the  failures  have  arisen  from  the  bad  getting  up  of  the  books  ; 
and  yet  one  can  hardly  see  any  other  reply  from  them  possible.  If, 
however,  this  should  be  the  reply,  the  rejoinder  that  I  venture  to 
make  for  the  Commissioners  is  this,  —  "  Education  means,  and  is, 
development  and  training.  Development  and  training  of  the  mind 
come  from  its  own  exercise,  through  observation  and  experiment 
at  first-hand  upon  Nature  and  fact.  If  for  this  primary  study  of 
Nature  and  fact  you  substitute  the  study  of  other  people's  studies 
of  these  same  subjects,  you  necessitate  cram ;  and  Nature  ordains 
that  by  cram  you  shall  perish  —  i.  e.,  that  by  aiming  simply  at 
quantity  of  results,  without  regard  to  quality,  you  shall  end  in 
getting  neither  quantity  nor  quality."  The  experiment  as  to 


202       THE  TRUE   FOUNDATION   OF   SCIENCE-TEACHING. 

primary  education  is  of  the  same  kind,  and  its  miserable  results 
bear  witness  to  the  fundamental  error  on  which  both  are  founded. 

In  reading  over  the  evidence  taken  by  the  Commissioners,  one 
is  struck  by  the  apparent  indifference  to  this  very  important 
question  of  the  teaching  on  the  part  of  scientific  men  of  all  kinds. 
Drs.  Acland,  Frankland,  Sharpey,  and  Huxley  stand  almost  alone 
among  the  Professors  ;  and  Mr.  Louis  Miall  and  Mr.  Coomber  almost 
alone  among  the  Science-teachers,  in  claiming  for  Science  that  it 
should  be  worthily,  i.  e.,  soundly  and  practically,  taught.  Mr. 
Miall  particularly  objects  to  the  Science  Department's  scheme.  He 
says,  —  "The  regulations  of  the  Department  do  not  encourage 
what  I  should  call  a  real  style,  of  teaching.  Teaching  of  scientific 
subjects,  which  ought,  as  I  imagine,  to  be  of  a  highly  practical 
character,  is  very  largely  conducted  by  such  means  as  reading  out 
slowly  notes  to  be  taken  down  verbatim  and  committed  to  memory  ; 
or  again,  by  a  large  use  of  elementary  text-books,  which  are  made 
as  condensed  as  possible,  and  are  in  many  cases  almost  learnt  off  by 
heart  by  frequent  repetition."  Admirable  mental  discipline  !  —  a 
singular  exemplification  of  the  way  in  which  the  scientific  mind  is 
formed  !  After  this  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  Mr.  Miall  (who  is, 
I  am  told,  highly  qualified  by  experience  and  knowledge  to  pro- 
nounce an  opinion)  declaring  :  "If  the  Science  classes  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Department  [he  is  speaking  particularly  of  Bradford] 
were  to  go  on  for  fifty  years  as  they  are  doing  at  present,  I  do  not 
think  they  would  produce  any  perceptible  effect  upon  the  industrial 
occupations  "  —  that  being  the  object  they  have  professedly  in  view. 

As  some  set  off  against  the  strictures  I  have  passed  on  the 
Science  Department  arrangements,  it  ought  to  be  mentioned  that 
the  provisions  made  for  giving  practical  instruction  every  year  to 
those  teachers  who  come  up  to  London  for  the  purpose  are  most 
excellent.  Six  weeks  of  such  training  is  worth  more  than  book- 
work  cramming  for  twelve  months,  especially  if  the  teachers  are 
Professors  Huxley  and  Carey  Foster  and  Mr.  Ray  Lankester. 

Had  there  been  time,  I  would  have  given  some  account  of 
Weinhold's  Treatise  on  Physics  ("  Vorschule  der  Experimental- 
physik"),  in  which  the  subject  is  built  up  under  the  observing 
eyes  and  experimenting  hands  of  the  students  ;  and  a  little  element- 
ary book  on  Heat  by  Mr.  MacGill  (published  by  Nelson  &  Co.), 
in  which  Science  is  treated  as  a  means  of  training,  and  the  differ- 
ence practically  shown  between  "  knowledge  gained  and  used,  and 
knowledge  merely  given." 


THE  TRUE  FOUNDATION   OF   SCIENCE-TEACHING.      203 

I  must,  however,  conclude  by  urging  upon  your  attention  the 
serious  nature  of  the  question  I  have  discussed.  If  I  have  suc- 
ceeded not  only  in  making  clear  the  true  foundation  of  Science- 
teaching,  but  in  producing  convictions  in  your  minds  which  may 
lead  to  action,  I  shall  have  accomplished  my  purpose. 


APPENDIX. 


I.  —  EXTKACTS  FKOM  KEPLIES  TO  QUESTIONS  PUT  BY  DIRECTION  OF  THE 
DUKE  OF  DEVONSHIRE,  AS  CHAIRMAN  OF  THE  KOYAL  COMMISSION 
ON  SCIENTIFIC  INSTRUCTION,  TO  THE  PROFESSIONAL  EXAMINERS 
OF  THE  SCIENCE  DEPARTMENT. 

The  questions  were  — 

1.  What  is  the  evidence  afforded  as  to  the  practical  nature  of  the  teaching  ? 

2.  What  opinion  have  you  formed  as  to  the  amount  of  "  cram,"  and  the 

power  of  testing  it  by  examination? 

3.  What  test  is  afforded,  by  passing  in  the  advanced  papers,  as  to  the 

fitness  of  a  candidate  to  become  a  teacher? 

KEPLIES. 

3.  "In  consequence  of  the  plain  evidences  of  the  ' cram '  system  pursued 
which  are  afforded  by  the  results  that  have  passed  through  my  hands,  I  beg 
leave  to  give  my  unqualified  opinion  that  no  student  who  has  obtained,  even 
a  first  class,  in  either  first  or  second  grade,  should  bo  allowed,  on  the 
strength  of  that  success  only,  to  constitute  himself  a  teacher  of  others."  — 
F.  A.  BRADLEY,  Examiner  in  Practical  Plane  and  Solid  Geometry. 

2.  ' '  The  amount  of  '  cram '  is  considerable  in  some  subjects,  such  as  Geo- 
metry and  the  introductory  part  of  Trigonometry.     In  the  former  subject 
it  is  an  undoubted  fact  that  Euclid  is  learned  by  heart  in  many  schools."  - 
B.  M.  COWIE,  Examiner  in  Pure  Mathematics. 

2.  "By  '  cram'  in  Mathematics  I  understand  the  loading  of  the  memory 
with  verbal  answers  to  anticipated  questions,  and  with  rules  and  demonstra- 
tions which  the  understanding  has  not  fathomed.     This  vicious  habit  un- 
doubtedly prevails  to  a  deplorable  degree.     It  is  the  natural  offspring  of 
competitive  examination,  the  invariable  resource  of  the  incompetent  and 
indolent,  who  covet,  but  do  not  deserve,  the  worldly  advantages  which  suc- 
e«3ss  in  examinations  secures."  —  T.  A.  HIRST,  Examiner  in  the  Higher  Pure 
Mathematics. 

3.  "A  teacher  ought  to.be  able  to  pass  an  examination  in  the  higher 
branches  of  the  subject  he  professes  to  teach.     This,  however,  is  a  very  in- 
sufficient test  indeed  of  his  fitness  to  teach.     Other  qualities,  moral  and  in- 
tellectual, are  required  in  a  teacher,  the  presence  or  absence  of  which  written 
examinations  cannot  in  the  least  reveal."  —  Idem. 


204      THE   TRUE  FOUNDATION   OF   SCIENCE-TEACHING. 

2.  " There  is  undoubtedly  a  considerable  amount  of  'cram.'     I  judge  of 
this  by  the  set  phrases  by  which,  in  some  classes,  certain  questions  are 
answered." — ANDREW  C.  RAMSAY,  Examiner  in  Geology, 

3.  ''Persons  who  'go  in'  for  this  office  [of  teacher]  are  often  very  ill 
qualified  for  it.     It  seems  to  me  that  often  the  fact  that  they  are  ignorant 
and  ill  educated  is  the  reason  why  they  consider  themselves  likely  to  be 
qualified  for  the  office  of  teacher."  —  Idem. 

1.  "  The  papers  do  not  afford  any  strong  evidence  of  the  teaching  having 
been  practical.  ...  As  a  whole  the  teaching  must  still  be  regarded  as  chiefly 
book- work."  —  Dr.  RUTHERFOBD,  Dr.  MICHAEL  FOSTER,   Examiners  for 
Professor  HUXLEY  in  Physiology. 

2.  "  Thfre  is  abundant  evidence  every  year  of  cramming."  — Idem. 

2.  "I  am  of  opinion  that  there  is  a  large  amount  of  cram,  and  bad  cram 
too."  —  JOHN  PERCY,  Examiner  in  Metallurgy. 

II.  —  EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  EVIDENCE  GIVEN  BEFORE  THE  ROYAL 
COMMISSION. 

Mr.  HENRY  COLE.  —  Mr.  Cole  is  of  opinion  (Question  32,  Second  Report 
of  the  Royal  Commission)  that  "  a  preliminary  examination  [of  the  teacher's 
qualifications]  is  not  of  much  importance ; "  and  at  the  same  time  (Question 
43)  that  a  training  school  for  teachers  ' '  is  the  one  thing  that  is  especially 
wanting  at  the  present  tirre;  "  inasmuch  as  (Question  83)  "the  acquisition 
of  general  knowledge,  and  the  power  of  efficiently  imparting  it,  are  two  dif- 
ferent things." 

Professor  HUXLEY,  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Cole  (Question 273),  would  "like 
to  see  all  the  teachers  put  through  a  special  examination." 

Dr.  RAMSAY  (Question  569)  says :  —  "It  appears  to  me  that  some  of  the 
teachers  .  .  .  are  apt  to  get  up  their  knowledge  by  a  special  process  of  self- 
cramming,  and  that  from  that  imperfect  kind  of  knowledge  they  cram  a 
number  of  the  younger  pupils,  whom  I  guess  to  be  mere  children,  and  who 
answer  by  rote. "  Also,  from  Questions  G01,  602,  it  appears  that  Dr.  Ram- 
say "infers"  that  "  the  instruction  given  is  chiefly  from  books,"  and  that 
it  "very  rarely  happens  that  the  instruction  is  gained  in  any  other  way, 
from  specimens  or  from  practical  knowledge." 

Professor  FRANKLAND,  speaking  of  the  results  of  his  own  examinations 
of  the  Chemistry  papers,  says  (Questions  766),  "It  was  evident  that  the 
candidates  had  depended  too  much  upon  mere  book-work  and  oral  instruc- 
tion ;  they  had  not  been  sufficiently  brought  into  contact  with  the  phenomena 
themselves.  .  .  .  Practical  instruction,  in  which  the  pupil  is  made  an  oper- 
ator, is  by  far  the  most  valuable  kind  of  chemical  teaching.  ...  A  train- 
ing in  experimental  Science  does  not  contemplate  merely  the  reading  and 
committing  to  memory  of  the  thoughts  of  others,  but  much  more,  an  actual 
contact  of  the  student  with  the  phenomena  presented  by  the  objects  which 
surround  him." 

Professor  WILLIAMSON,  in  reference  to  the  test  of  the  teacher's  fitness, 
says  (Question  1187 a) : —  "The  examination  test  alone,  when  applied  as  it 
is,  is  productive  of  one  great  evil,  especially  when  examinations  aim  at 
directing  teaching,  and  profess  to  take  the  lead  of  teachers,  and  that  is  to 
call  forth  crams.  I  believe  that  there  is  hardly  any  case  of  really  good  teach- 


THE   TRUE  FOUNDATION   OF   SCIENCE-TEACHING.      205 

ing  being  produced  by  examinations."  Further  (Question  1297),  "  Anybody 
who  has  done  a  thing  has  learned  more  than  any  one  who  has  only  seen  it." 

Mr.  T.  W.  SHORE  (Question  2206) :  — By  the  present  wholesale  and  indis- 
criminate system  ...  a  candidate  may  be  recognized  as  qualified  to  teach 
such  a  subject  as  Chemistry  without  ever  having  handled  chemical  appara- 
tus, or  even  seen  a  single  chemical  experiment,  for  the  examination  has 
been,  and  can  be,  passed  from  book-work  only.  Such  an  attempt  to  spread 
science  among  the  masses  will  tend  inevitably  to  a  decrease  of  scientific  ac- 
curacy in  teaching,  a  contempt  for  the  teacher's  office,  and,  among  artisans, 
a  loss  of  confidence  in  such  teachers,  the  power  of  maintaining  which  should 
be  an  essential  qualification." 

Mr.  Louis  MIALL  (Question  6247) :  —  "Students  are  often  passed  whose 
knowledge  is,  I  might  say,  absurdly  inadequate  —  students  who  have  no 
real  knowledge  of  the  subject  at  all ;  and  this  is  particularly  unfortunate,  as 
the  passing  of  the  examination  qualifies  them  to  become  teachers."  Again 
(Question  6257) : — "The  teaching  which  I  am  accustomed  to  give  would 
not  pass  pupils.  .  .  .  We  endeavor,  as  far  as  possible,  to  make  all  our  teach- 
ing practical.  .  .  .  Our  teaching  does  not  qualify  students  to  pass  the  exami- 
nation of  the  Science  and  Art  Department.  .  .  .  They  do  not  get  up  that  style 
of  answers  that  would  suffice  to  pass  them.  We  endeavor  to  make  our  class 
of  instruction  sound  and  practical,  but  we  should  have  to  adopt  a  totally 
different  system  if  we  aimed  at  passing  a  number  of  pupils."  (Question 
6277) :  —  "It  would  appear  to  me  that  the  essential  and  cardinal  faults  of 
the  present  system,  are,  first  of  all,  that  the  training  and  teaching  qalifica- 
tion  of  the  teachers  is  far  too  low ;  secondly,  that  owing  to  the  entire  absence 
of  practical  examination,  a  very  defective  style  of  teaching  is  encouraged ; 
and  thirdly,  that  it  is  at  the  option  of  the  teacher  to  take  any  subjects  he 
pleases,  in  any  order." 

III.  —  THE  TEACHING  OF  NATURE  AND  FACT. 

"  The  entire  process  of  the  earliest  instruction  of  children  should  consist 
in  training  the  faculties  for  their  subsequent  work ;  and  for  this  instruction 
God's  book  of  the  Universe  is  better  suited  than  any  books  of  men.  The 
facts  and  phenomena  of  Nature  are  the  sentences,  words  and  letters  which, 
before  all  others,  the  child  should  be  taught  to  read  ;  and  if  taught  to  read 
them  by  a  teacher  who  knows  his  business,  they  furnish  the  soundest  and 
most  interesting  instruction  that  the  child  is  capable  of  receiving.  The 
materials  for  the  lesson  are  constantly  at  hand  ;  the  faculties  for  using  them 
are  constantly  ready  for  use ;  and  it  is  the  very  raison  d'etre  of  the  teacher, 
the  purpose  for  which  he  exists,  to  bring  the  materials  and  the  faculties 
into  contact;  and  thus  to  make  the  child  find  tongues  in  trees,  sermons  in 
stones,  and  books  in  the  running  brooks.  For  want  of  such  teaching,  the 
child  grows  to  a  man,  and  as  a  man  lives  all  his  life,  carrying  with  him 
eyes  which  do  not  see,  ears  which  do  not  hear,  a  mind  which  does  not  think. 
By  means  of  such  lessons  the  art  of  observing  may  be  definitely  taught,  the 
art  of  inventing  prompted,  and  the  method  of  scientific  investigation  ini- 
tiated."— From  a  paper  read  by  the  Lecturer  "  On  the  teaching  of  Elementary 
Science  as  apart  of  the  Earliest  Instruction  of  Children,"  at  the  Leeds  Meeting 
of  the  Social  Science  Association. 


PREFACE  AND  SUPPLEMENT 


TO   AX 


ESSAY  ON  THE  CULTUEE 

OF   THE 

OBSERVING  POWERS  OF  CHILDREN, 

BY  ELIZA  A.  YOUMANS. 


PREFACE 


THE   ENGLISH   EDITION. 


THE  EDITOR'S  ACQUAINTANCE  with  the  valuable  treatise  which  he  now 
brings  before  the  English  public  is  of  recent  date.  He  had  under- 
taken to  write  a  brief  paper  for  the  Leeds  Meeting  of  the  Social 
Science  Association  on  "The  Teaching  of  Elementary  Science  as 
a  Part  of  the  Earliest  Instruction  of  Children  ; "  and  had  com- 
pleted the  arguments  and  illustrations  by  which  he  endeavored  to 
show  that,  in  the  true  order  of  things,  the  earliest  formal  instruc- 
tion of  children  should  be  a  continuation  of  that  which  they  had 
already  unconsciously  received  from  Nature  and  Fact,  when  Dr. 
Youmans,  of  New  York,  put  into  his  hands  the  "  First  Book  of 
Botany,"  and  the  little  treatise,  which  is  here  republished,  "On 
the  Culture  of  the  Observing  Powers  of  Children,"  written  by  Miss 
Youmans.  He  was  at  once  struck  with  the  remarkable  corres- 
pondence between  the  views  taken  by  Miss  Youmans  and  those 
which  he  had  presented  in  his  own  paper,  and  proportionally 
interested  in  the  fact  that  these  views  had  been  realized  in  suc- 
cessful practice.  It  therefore  occurred  to  him  that  he  should  be 
doing  a  service  to  the  cause  of  education  by  bringing  them  under 
the  notice  of  English  teachers,  and  of  all  who  take  an  interest  in 
the  improvement  of  elementary  instruction.  He  has  a  profound 
conviction  —  which  many  others  share  with  him  —  that  what  is 
demanded  by  the  present  times  is  not  so  much  extended  machinery 
as  better  teachers  —  teachers  more  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
nature  of  the  mind  with  which  they  are  professedly  dealing,  and 
capable  of  making  their  knowledge  of  the  processes  of  education 
more  productive  in  results  ;  and  moreover,  that  the  improved  teach- 
ing which  is  needed,  must  begin  at  the  beginning.  As  things  are, 
we  adopt  conventional  opinions  respecting  the  essentials  of  in- 
struction—  frequently  confounding  the  means  with  the  end  —  and 
entrust  the  most  delicate  and  difficult  part  of  the  process  —  the 


210  THE  CULTURE   OF   THE 

early  development  and  training  of  the  mind  —  to  teachers  who  have 
no  other  idea  of  teaching  than  that  it  is  a  sort  of  mechanical 
grinding,  which  is  somehow  or  other  to  produce  the  desired  result. 
We  all  recognize  the  usual  product  of  such  grinding  in  countless 
examples  of  children  exposed  to  it,  who  grow  up  to  manhood  and 
pass  their  lives  in  the  possession  of  eyes  that  do  not  see,  ears  that 
do  not  hear,  and  minds  that  have  never  been  taught  to  think. 
The  teaching,  however,  which  ends  in  such  results  as  these  is,  to 
speak  strictly,  no  teaching  at  all. 

It  fails  altogether  as  an  agency  for  quickening  intelligence 
through  the  acquisition  of  knowledge.  The  teacher  has  not  done 
what  he  engaged  to  do.  He  professed  to  be  an  artist  aiming  to 
secure,  through  the  resources  of  his  art,  a  definite  end ;  that  end 
he  has  not  secured.  He  undertook  —  what  Nature  left  alone  does 
not  undertake  —  to  teach  his  pupils  not  only  to  think,  but  to  think 
with  a  fixed  purpose  in  view  ;  not  only  to  set  their  minds  in  motion, 
but  to  direct  that  motion  so  as  to  make  it  effectual  for  (1)  the 
acquisition  of  exact  knowledge,  (2)  the  formation  of  good  mental 
habits,  (3)  and  consequent!}',  the  attainment  of  a  consciousness  of 
power  applicable  to  all  cases  of  mental  action.  His  work  has 
proved  inefficient  in  all  these  respects,  and  he  has  therefore  failed 
in  the  very  object  of  his  existence. 

The  didactic  method  —  the  method  of  endless  telling,  explain- 
ing, thinking  for  the  pupil,  and  ordering  him  to  learn  —  has  had 
its  day.  It  is,  then,  worth  while  to  consider  whether  it  may  not 
be  superseded  by  one  which  recognizes  the  native  ability  of  the 
human  mind,  under  competent  guidance,  to  work  out  its  own  edu- 
cation by  means  of  its  own  active  exercise. 

Miss  Youmans'  method,  by  providing  for  the  exercise  of  the 
pupil's  own  mind  on  concrete  facts,  which  are  to  be  observed, 
investigated,  judged  of,  and  described  by  himself,  is  an  obvious 
recognition  of  this  principle  ;  and  in  carrying  it  out  she  supersedes 
"  the  usual  desultory  practice  of  object-teaching  in  noting  the  dis- 
connected properties  of  casual  objects,"  by  "  training  him  (to  use 
her  own  words)  not  only  to  observe  the  sensible  facts,  but  con- 
stantly to  put  them  into  those  relations  of  thought  by  which  they 
become  organized  knowledge." 

In  general,  then,  the  purpose  of  this  little  book  is  to  give  the 
elementary  teacher  an  enlarged  and  enlightened  view  of  his  proper 
functions,  to  fix  attention  on  principles  rather  than  routine,  to 
supersede  didactic  cramming  by  systematic  mental  training  ;  and, 
in  short,  to  place  the  noble  art  of  teaching  upon  a  solid  foundation. 


OBSERVING    POWERS    OF    CHILDREN.  211 

The  editor  has  added  a  few  notes  by  way  of  enforcing  the 
author's  general  argument,  and  in  his  "Supplement"  has  en- 
deavored to  illustrate  a  principle  to  which  he  attaches  great  impor- 
tance, as  the  key-note  to  the  art  of  teaching ;  namely,  that  the 
process  by  which  the  pupil  learns  being  essentially  one  of  subject- 
ive, conscious,  self-instruction,  the  teacher's  counterpart,  conscious 
objective  process,  ought  always  to  recognize  this  fact ;  that,  in 
short,  only  in  proportion  as  the  teacher  aids,  without  superseding, 
the  pupil's  own  efforts  to  teach  himself,  will  he  be  successful  in 
his  teaching. 

From  a  conviction,  moreover,  that  the  study  of  a  descriptive 
science  like  Botany  does  not  sufficiently  develop  the  instinct  for 
experiment,  nor  supply  a  training  in  the  doctrine  of  force,  he  has 
shown,  by  a  typical  lesson,  how  the  elements  of  mechanics  may  be 
learnt  by  young  children  through  their  own  observation  and  experi- 
ments, without  explanations  from  the  teacher  —  the  learners  being 
considered  in  the  light  of  investigators,  seeking  to  ascertain  at  first 
hand  facts  and  their  interpretation. 

4,  KILDARE  GARDENS, 
May  1st,  1872. 


SUPPLEMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR 

ILLUSTRATING  THE   FOREGOING   PRINCIPLES  AND  APPLYING 
THEM  TO  THE  ELEMENTARY  STUDY  OF  MECHANICS. 


IT  will  have  been  seen  that  the  special  characteristic  of  the  method 
of  this  book  is,  that  the  author  insists  on  the  principle  that  all 
elementary  instruction  which  is  intended  to  train  the  mind  must  be 
based  on  objective,  concrete  fact,  and  provides  no  other  basis.  The 
facts  themselves,  not  the  explanations,  deductions,  or  comments  of 
others  upon  them,  are  to  be  brought  at  first  hand  into  immediate 
contact  with  the  pupil's  mind.  In  the  natural  order  of  things,  the 
fact  comes  first,  the  comments  afterwards,  and  the  child,  in  his 
acquisition  of  knowledge,  should  follow  the  natural  order.  This  is 
the  historical  method,,  the  method  of  the  investigator,  who  gains  his 
ends  by  observation  and  experiment,  acquiring  knowledge  by  the 
exercise  of  his  senses,  by  analysis  and  comparison,  and  testing  it  by 
synthetical  applications.  The  child,  too,  may  be  regarded  as  an 
explorer  or  investigator,  who  is  to  proceed  by  the  same  method. 
He,  too,  can  gain  knowledge  by  observation  and  experiment,  and 
that  only  is  truly  his  own  which  he  gains  by  these  means. 

This  proposition  will  be  considered  by  many  teachers  as  needing 
proof.  The  remark  is,  however,  intended  to  apply  only  to  the  most 
elementary  instruction,  as  a  part  of  a  system  of  mental  training. 
The  purpose  of  such  instruction  should  obviously  be  to  impress 
upon  the  pupil's  mind  clear  and  definite  ideas,  however  few,  and  to 
foreclose  his  mind,  for  the  time  being,  to  all  others.*  The  quantity 
of  knowledge  that  he  gains  under  the  process  is  of  small  import- 
ance compared  with  its  quality,  and  its  quality  depends  upon  the 
manner  in  which  he  gains  it.  What  he  gains  at  first  hand,  by  his 
own  mental  labor,  and  what  he  acquires  as  the  result  of  other 
people's  labor,  may  both  become  his  own  property,  but  they  are 
different  in  their  nature,  and  are  held  on  totally  different  tenures ; 

*  "  L'esprit  dc  mon  Institution  n'est  pas  d'ensclgner  k  1'enfant  beaucoup  de  choscs,  mais  de 
ne  laisser  jamais  entrer  dans  sou  ct-rveau  quc  des  idecs  jus  tea  et  claires."  —  ROUSSEAU,  £mile. 


CULTURE  OF  OBSERVING  POWERS  OF  CHILDREN.          213 

and  it  is  maintained  that  the  child  under  training  is  only  concerned 
with  the  former.  He  is  to  learn  how  to  acquire  property  himself, 
that  he  may  know  the  value  of  property  in  general,  and  may  be 
able  to  appreciate  the  various  methods  by  which  others  acquire  it. 
In  a  similar  way,  the  mechanic  learns  his  art  by  continually  hand- 
ling his  tools,  until  having  gained  experience  by  daily  practice,  he 
at  length  becomes  capable  of  appreciating  the  finished  and  elaborate 
work  of  his  more  advanced  fellow-laborers.  His  competency, 
however,  to  form  a  mature  judgment  of  their  performance,  and  to 
do  what  they  do,  is  founded  essentially  on  his  own  previous  knowl- 
edge and  experience.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  the  assertion  is  made, 
that  in  the  case  of  a  child  under  elementary  training,  that  knowl- 
edge only  which  he  gains  by  his  own  observation  and  experiment 
is  truly  his  own. 

The  time  of  course  comes  when  he  must  receive  man}1  things  on 
the  authority  of  others,  as,  for  instance,  when  he  learns  Geography 
and  History.  These  subjects  do  not,  indeed,  consistently  with  the 
views  here  maintained,  enter  into  the  curriculum  of  the  earliest 
elementary  instruction,  which  should  be  strictly  confined  to  matters 
on  which  the  pupil  can  exercise  his  own  powers  of  observation  and 
experiment.  When,  however,  the  time  does  come  for  learning 
them,  it  will  be  found  that  the  child  furnished  with  a  substratum 
of  knowledge  gained  by  his  own  efforts,  will  be  in  a  far  better  con- 
dition for  receiving  and  appropriating  that  supplied  him  by  others 
than  one  who  has  not  had  the  previous  training. 

It  may,  however,  be  further  objected,  that  it  is  unreasonable  to 
require  the  pupil  to  discover  for  himself  what  has  been  already  dis- 
covered by  others,  and  lies  ready  at  hand.  The  objection  would 
be  valid  if  it  were  true  that  he  could,  while  yet  a  novice  in  learn- 
ing, in  the  true  sense  of  the  term,  appropriate  what  another  has 
gained  ;  but  the  fact  remains  that  the  child's  mental  appropriation 
of  objective  knowledge  can  be  secured  only  by  certain  subjective 
processes  which  another  can  no  more  perform  for  him,  than  walk, 
sleep,  or  digest  for  him.  That  only,  therefore,  in  an  educational 
sense,  is  knowledge  to  us  which  we  have  gained  through  the  work- 
ing of  our  own  minds.  We  do  indeed  please  ourselves  with  the 
fancy  that  we  can  assume  as  our  own  the  vast  field  of  science 
which,  we  have,  as  a  people,  inherited ;  but  after  all,  it  is  an  ulti- 
mate fact  of  human  nature,  that  there  is  no  "  common  measure  " 
between  a  nation's  progress  in  knowledge  and  an  individual's  :  so  . 
that,  however  large  may  be  the  inheritance  bequeathed  to  us,  we 
can  enter  on  it  in  no  other  way  than  that  by  which  it  was  first 


214  THE   CULTURE  OF   THE 

acquired  —  the  way  of  observation  and  experiment.  Whatever  is 
acquired  by  any  other  means  is  of  the  nature  of  cramming,  and 
has  nothing  in  common  with  the  true  elementary  culture  of  the 
mind.* 

These  considerations  help  us  to  define  the  relation  between  the 
material  of  instruction,  the  learner,  and  the  teacher.  The  material 
should  be  objective,  concrete  fact ;  the  learner,  one  who  applies 
his  senses,  his  powers  of  perception,  apprehension,  analysis,  com- 
parison —  his  whole  mind,  in  short  —  with  a  view  to  ascertain  the 
nature  and  phenomena  of  the  fact,  by  interrogating  it  in  every 
possible  way ;  and  the  teacher,  one  who,  recognizing  and  under- 
standing the  learner's  process  of  investigation,  aids  him  in  it  by 
every  means  which  does  not  interfere  with  it.  He  does  not,  there- 
fore, tell  his  pupils  that  this  object  is  hard,  that  soft ;  he  makes 
them  feel  it  themselves ;  he  does  not  explain  that  this  object  has 
a  certain  external  relation  to  that ;  he  places  them  in  juxta- 
position, and  invites  comparison ;  he  directs  them  to  congre- 
gate particulars,  and  at  the  right  time  calls  for  generalization  and 
classification  ;  he  does  not  point  out  that  this  is  a  cause,  and  that 
an  effect,  but  prompts  them  to  make  the  experiments  which  suggest 
the  relation ;  he  does  not  anxiously  correct  their  blunders,  but, 
either  at  the  moment  or  subsequently,  takes  care  that  they  are  cor- 
rected by  themselves  ;  he  gives  them  no  technical  names  until  they 
know  the  things  or  phenomena  which  require  to  be  named ;  and 
finally,  distrusting  their  memory,  he  often  repeats  his  lessons  in 
order  to  deepen  impressions  and  prevent  the  loss  of  what  has  once 
been  acquired. 

From  this  enumeration  of  the  several  functions  of  the  learner 
and  teacher,  it  is  clear  that  the  former  is  an  investigator  engaged 
in  teaching  himself  by  means  of  concrete  facts,  and  that  the 
latter  is  a  guide,  director,  or  superintendent  of  the  process  by 
which  the  pupil  learns. 

The  views  of  the  respective  functions  of  the  learner  and  teacher 

*  The  writer  is  anxious  to  guard  against  any  misconstruction  of  his  meaning  in  reference  to 
"cramming."  He  has  already  denounced  its  "unlawfulness"  as  a  part  of  elementary  train- 
ing, but  he  admits,  of  course,  Its  lawfulness  and  Indeed  necessity,  in  a  more  advanced  stage 
of  instruction,  and  in  the  business  of  life.  What  he  insists  on  is  that  by  enfeebling  the  grow- 
ing powers  It  is  antagonistic  to  mental  culture,  and,  moreover,  that  when  It  is  necessary,  tho 
cultivated  mind  will  appreciate  in  a  higher  sense  and  appropriate  far  more  effectually  tha 
knowledge  gained  by  others,  than  the  mind  which  has  been  accustomed  from  the  beginning 
blindly  to  receive  and  adopt  the  conclusions  of  others  as  its  own.  In  other  words,  tha  mind 
that  is  not  used  to  cramming  will  cram  to  far  better  purpose  when  the  occasion  arises  thaa 
that  which  is;  and  will  besides,  more  competently  deal  with  general  propositions  framed  by 
others  from  having  been  employed  in  forming  such  propositions  itself. 


OBSERVING  POWERS   OF   CHILDREN.  215 

\ 

will  of  course  hardly  satisfy  those  who  assume  that  every  one  who 
knows  a  subject  is  competent  to  teach  it :  alLexperience,  however, 
is  against  this  assumption.  The  teacher  should  indeed  thoroughly 
know  his  subject.  This  knowledge  will  guide  him  in  bringing  the 
object  to  be  learned  in  contact  with  the  pupil's  consciousness  by 
the  questions  he  asks,  and  is,  moreover  a  guarantee  that  he  has 
himself  had  experience  of  the  subjective  process  of  learning,  but 
is  no  guarantee  that  he  has  a  right  conception  of  his  proper  func- 
tion as  a  teacher,  or  a  conscious  knowledge  of  the  process  by 
which  all  minds  learn.  He  may  know  his  subject,  but  be  entirely 
ignorant  of  the  best  means  of  making  his  pupils  know  it  too, 
which  should  be  the  end  of  all  teaching.  The  question  at  issue 
resolves  itself,  indeed,  into  that  of  the  means  by  which  knowledge 
is  naturally  gained ;  and  the  main  point  in  the  inquiry  is,  How  is 
all  knowledge  which  we  can  truly  call  our  own  obtained  ?  Does  a 
child  come  to  know  a  flower,  for  instance,  because  his  teacher, 
having  exercised  his  mind  upon  it,  knows  it,  or  because  the  child 
himself  has  exercised  his  own  mind  upon  it  ?  Even  if  we  allow  — 
which  we  do  not  —  that  the  child  is  incapable  of  seeing  the  flower 
aright,  of  discriminating  between  its  parts,  and  appreciating  their 
relations  by  his  own  powers  of  mind,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the 
ultimate  act  which  makes  the  idea  a  mental  possession  is,  and 
must  be,  the  child's  own,  not  the  teacher's.  But  indeed  all  the  pro- 
cesses of  perception,  observation,  comparison,  reasoning,  judgment, 
by  which  solid  knowledge  is  gained,  are  so  many  means  by  which 
the  investigating  mind  works  in  attaining  its  object,  and  can  only 
be  performed  by  the  learner  himself.  The  teacher  who  intrudes  the 
knowledge  he  has  gained  by  means  equally  accessible  to  the  child, 
does  a  work  of  supererogation,  and  gives  at  second  hand  what  the 
learner  would  better  gain  at  first  hand,  and  by  so  doing  supersedes 
the  more  valuable  teaching  given  by  the  fact  or  object  itself.  In 
learning  what  an  object  is,  the  object  itself  is  the  best  possible 
teacher.  The  lessons  it  gives  are  clear,  forcible  and  definite,  and 
stamp  themselves  directly  on  the  mind.  Those  substituted  for 
them  by  the  professed  teacher,  may  be  quite  otherwise,  inasmuch  as 
if  he  learned  them  originally  from  the  object  itself,  he  may  not  have 
learned  them  correctly,  or  if  he  merely  transmits  impressions  which 
have  passed  through  other  minds  without  reference  to  the  original 
teacher  —  the  fact  or  object  —  he  may  convey  error  instead  of  truth 
to  his  pupil.  No  account,  in  short,  can  be  given  by  another,  of  the 
nature  of  an  object  equal  in  vividness,  force,  and  truth,  to  that 


216  THE   CULTUKE   OF   THE 

which  the  object  itself  can  give.     But  further,  the  teacher  who 
assumes  that  his  best  service  to  his  pupils  consists  in  doing  their 
proper  work  of  observation,  &c.,  for  them,  not  only  does  what  is 
unnecessary,  but  what  may  be  positively  injurious.     His  professed 
object,  as  a  teacher,  is  to  educate  as  well  as  to  instruct ;  to  train 
the  faculties  through  the  process  of  instruction.*     But  he  can  train 
only  by  calling  into  exercise  the  pupil's  own  powers.     The  substi- 
tution of  his  own  thought  for  the  pupil's,  except  as  a  means  to  this 
end,  tends  to  defeat  the  object  in  view.     All  explanations,  there- 
fore, by  the  teacher,  of  relations  which  are  obvious  and  patent  in 
the  things  themselves,  supersede  the  pupil's  own  mental  activities, 
and  hinder,  to  some  extent,  that  exercise  of  mind  which  is  essential 
to    development    and    training.      Explanation   is    "  flattening," 
"making  level,"  or  "clearing  the  ground,"  so  as  to  produce  an 
even  surface,  and  as  applied  to  teaching,  signifies  removing  ob- 
structions out  of  the  way.     This  work,  however,  as  being,  in  our 
view,  the  only  means  by  which  the  pupil's  mind  is  to  be  trained  to 
the  consciousness  of  its  powers,  belongs  to  the  learner,  not  to  the 
teacher,  and  the  teacher  who  does  it  for  him  injuriously  interferes 
with,  and  in  fact  defeats,  as  we  have  just  said,  the  object  in  view. 
The  human  mind,  which  is  naturally  endowed  with  a  capacity  for 
observing  aggregates,  is  also  endowed  with  a  capacity  for  disinte- 
grating them,  and  detecting  the  relation  of  the  parts  to  the  whole, 
and  further,  with  a  capacity  for  reasoning  on  these  relations  and 
forming  a  judgment  upon  them.     It  has,  moreover,  the  ability  to 
apply  the  knowledge  thus  gained  to  the  acquisition  of  more  —  to 
use  the  known  to  interpret  the  unknown.     All  these  processes  are 
essentially  of  the  nature  of  explanations,  but  then  they  are  ex- 
planations which  result  from  the  working  of  the  learner's  own 
mind  on  the  matter  of  study,  not  from  the  working  of  the  teacher's 
mind ;  and  to  return  to  the.  former  assertion  —  the  teacher  who 
intrudes  his  own  explanations  injuriously  interferes  with  the  ma- 
chinery, and  hinders  it   from  securing  its  best   products.     The 
teacher's  whole  business,  in  short,  is  to  teach  his  pupil  how  to 
think,  and  this  can  only  be  effected  by  making  him  do  all  the 

*  .It  may  be  worth  while  to  remark,  us  the  point  is  often  misapprehended,  that  Education 
(from  tducare,  a  frequentative  of  educere,  to  draw  forth)  is  the  drawing  forth,  by  repeated 
acts,  of  the  pupil's  powers,  the  training  of  them  to  their  proper  work,  and  that  Instruction 
(from  inatruere,  to  place  materials  together  for  a  definite  end)  is  the  orderly  placing  of 
knowledge  in  the  mind.  Hence,  only  an  instructor  scientifically  equipped  for  his  profession 
is  at  the  same  time  an  educator.  The  teacher  who  merely  gets  his  pupil  to  accumulate  discon- 
nected bits  of  "Information"  about  all  sorts  of  subjects  is  no  instructor,  and,  therefore,  no 
educator,  In  the  true  sense  of  the  terms. 


OBSERVING   POWERS   OF   CHILDREN.  217 

thinking  himself,  "absolutely  without  aid"  (see  Dr.  Temple's 
remark  below),  not  thinking  for  him.* 

It  scarcely  needs  to  be  pointed  out,  that  the  question  of  the  ne- 
cessity of  explanations  in  elementary  teaching  involves  that  of  tho 
subjects  and  order  of  studies.  "  If  the  subject  is  unsuited  to  the 
child's  stage  of  instruction,  or  if,  instead  of  presenting  him  with 
facts  which  he  can  understand,  we  force  upon  him  abstractions 
which  he  cannot,  we  create  the  need  for  explanations."  He  can 
understand  concrete  facts,  bjr  applying  his  natural  faculties  of 
observation  to  them,  but  he  cannot  understand  general  principles 
framed  by  others  upon  facts  which  he  does  not  know.  The  recog- 
nition of  this  principle  furnishes  a  test  of  the  suitability  of  any 
given  subject  for  the  earliest  stage  of  elementary  instruction. 
Those  subjects  alone  are  suitable  which  admit  of  independent  in- 
vestigation, which  require  no  evidence  but  that  of  the  senses,  and 
can  therefore  be  brought  into  immediate  contact,  without  the 
descriptions  and  explanations  of  others,  with  the  learner's  own 
mind.  In  the  progress  of  instruction,  the  knowledge  gained  by 
others  —  as  in  Geography  and  History — will  fitly  take  its  proper 
place  ;  but  in  the  first  instance  and  with  an  especial  view  to  train- 
ing the  mind,  the  pupil's  knowledge  should  be  all  his  own  —  the 
sole  product  of  his  own  thought.  Facts,  then,  and  phenomena  — 
the  facts  and  phenomena  of  the  material  world  —  are  the  proper 
food  of  the  mind  learning  to  think,  and  it  is  the  perception  and 
appreciation  of  this  principle  which  constitutes  the  merit  of  Miss 
Youmaus'  method  of  teaching  Botany. 

It  is  important,  however,  to  remark,  that,  valuable  as  the  study 
of  Botany  is  as  a  means  of  cultivating  the  observing  powers,  it 

*  Tlicrc  is  abundant  authority  for  the  correctness  of  these  views  on  the  value  of  the  learner's 
self-tuition.  "All  the  best  cultivation  of  a  child's  mind,''  says  Bishop  Temple,  "  is  obtained 
by  the  child's  own  exertion,  and  the  master's  success  may  bo  measured  by  the  degree  in  which 
he  can  bring  his  scholars  to  make  such  exertions  absolutely  without  aid."  Rousseau,  too, 
recommending  self-teaching,  says,  "Force  d'apprendrc  de  lul-meme,  11  (the  pupil)  use  de  sa 
ralson  et  non  de  cclle  d'autrul,  car,  pour  ne  rien  donner  ii  1'oplnion,  II  ne  faut  rien  donner  it 
1'autorite1 ;  et  la  plupart  de  nos  errcurs  noui  viennent  blen  moins  de  nous  que  des  nutrcs.  De 
cet  exercice  continue!  11  doit  resulter  une  vigneur  d'esprlt  scmblable  ii  celle  qu'on  donne  an. 
corps  par  le  travail  et  par  la  fatigue.  Un  autre  avantage  ost  qu'on  n'nvance  qu'k  proportion 
de  ses  forces.  L'esprit,  non  plus  que  le  corps,  ne  porte  quo  ce  qu'll  pcut  porter.  Quand 
1'entendement  s'appropric  leg  choses  avant  de  lea  deposer  dans  la  memoire,  ce  qu'll  en  tiro 
ensuite  est  a  lui;  au  lieu  qu'en  surehargeant  la  me'molre  k  son  In«u  on  s'expose  a  nVn  jnniais 
rien  tirer  qul  Inl  soil  propre."  Again  :  "  Sans  contredit  on  prend  des  notions  bien  plus  clalres 
et  bien  plus  sflres  de  ohoses  qu'on. apprendainsi  de  soi-meme  que  de  celles  qii'on  tlent  des 
enseigncments  d'autrui :  et,  outre  qu'on  n'accoutume  point  sa  raison  a  se  soumettre  si  rvllemcnt 
a  1'autorite,  1'on  s?  rend  plus  in-renieux  k  tronvcr  des  rapports,  it  Her  dea  Ide'es,  k  mventer 
des  instruments,  que  quand,  adoptant  tout  cela  tel  qu'on  nous  le  donnc,  nous  lalnsons  affnisser 
notre  esprit  dans  la  nonchalance,  comme  le  corps  d'un  homme  qul,  toujours  habille,  chausee', 
scrri  par  ses  gens  ct  truind  par  BOS  chcvaux,  perd  k  la  fin  la  f^rce  et  1'usagc  de  sos  membres." 
—  Emile. 


218  THE  CULTURE   OF   THE 

fails  to  secure  all  the  elementary  training  of  which  children  are 
capable.  It  leaves  altogether  uncultivated  the  instinct  of  experi- 
ment, which  equally  with  observation,  is  an  indispensable  agent  in 
the  acquisition  of  physical  knowledge.  A  child  may  become  a 
proficient  in  Descriptive  Botany  and  remain  ignorant  of  the  action 
and  reaction  of  forces,  and  of  the  relation  between  cause  and  effect. 
Yet  this  knowledge  as  a  means  of  quickening  mental  effort  is  of 
even  more  value  than  any  that  can  be  obtained  from  observation 
alone,  and  tends  more  directly  to  form  the  scientific  mind.  Chil- 
dren are  always  delighted  with  experiments,  especially  with  those 
which  they  make  themselves.  They  like  to  set  objects  in  motion, 
and  to  watch  the  results. 

The  elementary  discipline,  then,  which  is  to  be  a  continuation  of 
Nature's  method,  should  provide  a  systematic  training  in  the 
doctrine  of  forces.*  This  training  will  be  one  day  recognized  as 
"the  true  basis  of  that  Technical  Education  which  is  the  deside- 
ratum of  our  times. 

"We  are  not  yet  furnished  with  a  systematic  arrangement  of 
means  and  agencies  for  such  training,  but  in  the  meanwhile  a 
typical  and  theoretical  specimen  is  here  given  of  the  manner  in 
which  instructions  of  this  kind  might  be  conducted ;  which  will 
also  serve  as  an  illustration  of  the  principles  already  insisted  on. 

It  may  be  premised  that  the  object  of  this  specimen  of  a  lesson 
is  to  show  :  — 

(1.)  That  the  pupils  throughout  the  lesson  are  learning,  i.  e., 
teaching  themselves  by  the  exercise  of  their  own  minds,  without, 
not  by,  the  explanations  of  the  teacher. 

(2.)  That  the  pupils  gain  their  knowledge  from  the  object  itself, 
not  from  a  description  of  the  object  furnished  by  another. 

(3.)  That  the  observation  and  experiment  by  which  their  knowl- 
edge is  gained,  are  their  own  observation  and  experiment  —  made 
by  their  own  sense  and  by  their  own  hands  ;  as  investigators  seek- 
ing to  ascertain  for  themselves  what  the  object  before  them  is,  and 
what  it  is  capable  of  doing. 

*  That  such  knowledge  is  within  the  comprehension  of  children  Is  shown  with  admirable 
tact  and  skill  in  Miss  Edgeworth's  "  Harry  and  Lucy,"  as  well  as  by  the  numerous  actual 
experiments  in  education  recorded  In  Mr.  Edgeworth  and  his  daughter's  joint  work  on 
"  Practical  Education."  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  these  valuable  works,  superseded  by 
none  In  recent  times,  are  apparently  falling  Into  oblivion.  "When  the  nature  and  requirements 
of  elementary  training  are  better  understood,  and  our  traditional  routine  submitted  to  the  test 
of  educational  science,  teachers  will  study  with  deep  interest  the  numerous  experiments  in 
education  which  are  minutely  described  in  them,  and  recognize  the  sterling  merits  of  the 
Edgeworthion  method. 


OBSERVING  POWERS   OF   CHILDREN.  219 

(4  )  That  the  teacher  recognizes  his  proper  function  as  that  of 
a  guide  and  director  of  the  pupil's  process  of  self-teaching,  which 
he  aids  by  moral  means  but  does  not  supersede  by  the  intervention 
of  his  own  knowledge  or  explanations. 

Suppose,  then,  a  large  working  model  of  the  pile-driving  ma- 
chine placed  in  view  of  the  whole  class.  As  it  is  well  known,  it 
is  not  necessary  to  describe  it.  The  resistance  of  the  earth  may 
be  represented  by  a  socket  made  of  boards  connected  by  strong 
springs. 

I.  The  teacher  simply  remarks  that  the  object  before  them  is 
called  a  "  machine,"  and  that  its  purpose  is  to  drive  the  pile  into 
the  socket  which  represents  the  earth.  He  also  tells  them  the 
names  (merely  as  conventionalities  which  they  cannot  find  out  for 
themselves)  of  the  "  monkey,"  the  "  clutch,"  the  "  pulleys,"  &c. 
The  children  are  eager  to  see  what  the  machine  can  do.  He  there- 
fore directs  two  of  them  to  lay  hold  of  the  cords  and  pull  up  the 
weight  or  "monkey."  This  they  do  gradually  until  the  clutch 
relaxes  its  hold,  and  the  weight  falls  down  on  the  head  of  the  pile. 
The  weight  is  then  replaced  in  its  original  position,  and  all  the 
children  in  succession  make  the  experiment.  This  employment  of 
their  owh  powers  involves  a  personal  experience  of  resistance  to 
muscular  effort,  and  a  rudimentary  idea  of  force. 

The  teacher  next  directs  them  to  measure  the  height  from  which 
the  weight  falls,  as  well  as  the  height  of  the  head  of  the  pile  from 
its  insertion  in  the  socket.  He  also  detaches  the  monkey  from  the 
clutch,  directs  them  to  weigh*  it  and  he  records  the  result  on  the 
blackboard. 

He  then  replaces  the  weight  in  its  original  position,  and  directs 
the  children  to  repeat  the  experiment ;  but  this  time  the  height  of 
the  pile  is  measured  after  the  fall  of  the  monkey,  and  the  difference 
recorded  on  the  blackboard.  "The  iron  weight  of  —  Ibs.  drives 
the  pile  into  the  earth  —  inches." 

He  next  substitutes  for  the  iron  weight  masses  of  equal  volume 
made  of  lead  and  wood,  directing  the  children  in  each  case  to 
weigh  the  several  masses  and  recording  for  them  the  several  results 
of  the  impact. 

*  Arrangement*  for  accurately  weighing  and  measuring  should  always  form  a  part  of  the 
school  apparatus,  and  should  be  used  not  for,  but  by  the  pupils.  They  should  also  be  prac- 
tised In  poising  weights  In  their  hands,  and  in  conjecturing  heights  and  distance  by  the  eye, 
and  then  comparing  the  mental  surmise  with  the  facts,  as  ascertained  and  confirmed  by  actual 
experiments.  Much  valuable  mental  discipline,  as  well  as  preparation  for  the  business  of 
life,  Is  involved  in  processes  of  this  kind.  The  vague  evidence  often  given  in  courts  of  law 
on  such  points,  show  how  much  they  are  neglected  in  early  training. 


220  THE  CULTURE   OF  THE 

Teacher.    Which  weight  drives  the  pile  most,  which  least  ? 

Answer.   The  leaden  one  most,  the  wooden  one  least. 

T.    Why? 

A.  Because  the  leaden  one  is  the  heavier  and  the  wooden  one 
the  lighter. 

T.    How  many  inches  in  each  case? 

A.    The  leaden  one  —  inches,  the  wooden  one  —  inches.  . 

T.   What  are  the  weights  of  each  ? 

A.    The  leaden  one  weighs  —  Ibs.,  the  wooden  one  —  Ibs. 

T.    How  do  you  state  the  result? 

A.  The  leaden  weight  drives  the  pile  twice  as  deep  as  the 
wooden  one. 

T.  Measure  exactly  the  leaden  and  the  wooden  weights ;  the 
length,  height,  and  thickness  of  each.  What  is  the  result? 

A.   They  are  exactly  the  same  size. 

T.  We  will  say  that  they  are  of  equal  volume;  yet  being  of 
equal  size  or  volume,  and  falling  from  the  same  height,  you  say 
that  the  leaden  weight  produces  twice  as  great  a  result  as  the 
wooden  one. 

A.  Yes,  because  it  is  twice  as  heavy.  We  found  that  it  weighed 
twice  as  much. 

T.  That  is,  as  you  told  me,  the  leaden  monkey  weighed,  say  20 
Ibs.,  and  the  wooden  one  10  Ibs.,  both  having  the  same  volume.* 
How  do  you  account  for  this  ? 

A.   We  don't  know  how  it  is. 

T.  Well,  here  is  some  wool.  Weigh  out  two  parcels  of  it  which 
shall  be  exactly  equal  to  each  other.  Take  one  parcel  and  squeeze 
it  gently  into  a  ball,  squeeze  the  other  parcel  also  into  a  ball  tightly, 
so  that  the  one  ball  shall  have  as  nearly  as  possible  double  the 
volume  of  the  other.  What  do  you  notice  ? 

A.  That  the  quantity  of  wool  is  in  both  cases  the  same,  but  that 
in  the  one  case  it  is  packed  twice  as  closely  as  in  the  other,  so  that 
it  occupies  only  half  the  space. 

T.  We  will  call  the  wool,  as  being  something  that  we  can  see, 
touch,  and  smell,  matter,  and  the  "  close  packing,"  density.  How 
do  you  apply  these  terms? 

A.  The  quantity  of  matter  in  the  two  balls  is  equal,  but  the 
density  of  one  is  twice  as  great  as  that  of  the  other. 

*  The  teacher  may  legitimately  aid  his  pupils  by  summing  up  and  keeping  before  them  the 
results  they  gain ;  that  is,  in  the  intellectual  cbase  in  which  they  are  engaged,  he  may,  if  he 
thinks  fit,  carry  the  game-bag  for  them.  This  will  often  be  found  a  great  support  to  the 
attention. 


OBSERVING   POWERS   OF   CHILDREN.  221 

T.  Now  returning  to  the  case  of  the  leaden  and  wooden  weights, 
how  do  you  account  for  the  fact  that  though  equal  in  volume,  the 
one  weighs  twice  as  much  as  the  other? 

A.  In  the  leaden  weight,  the  matter  is  twice  as  closely  packed, 
or  twice  as  dense  as  in  the  wooden  one.  » 

T.  Now  again.  What  was  the  effect  of  your  squeezing  the 
parcels  of  wool? 

A.   To  bring  the  bits  of  wool  closely  together. 

T.  Call  these  "bits"  particles.  Why  is,  it  possible  to  bring 
them  closer  together? 

A.    Because  there  are  spaces  between  the  particles. 

T.  These  spaces  are  called  pores,  and  the  fact  that  there  are 
such  pores,  is  called  porosity.  What  relation  has  this  quality  to 
that  of  density  ? 

A.  It  is  the  opposite  to  density.  The  more  dense  anything  is, 
the  fewer  pores  it  has ;  the  more  pores  it  has,  the  less  dense 
it  is. 

T.    How  can  you  express  this  generally? 

A.  The  greater  the  porosity,  the  less  the  density ;  the  greater 
the  density,  the  less  the  porosity. 

T.  Terms  like  density  and  porosity  thus  related  to  each  other, 
are  called  correlative,  and  we  may  therefore  speak  of  the  correla- 
tion of  density  and  porosity. 

II.  The  teacher  now  shifts  the  beam  ;  arrangements  having  been 
previously  made  for  raising  or  lowering  it.  The  experiments  are 
repeated.  The  beam  is  gradually  lowered,  and  the  results  recorded 
as  before,  until  there  is  no  height  to  fall  from ;  the  weight  simply 
resting  on  the  head  of  the  pile. 

T.   What  did  you  observe  as  the  height  was  gradually  lessened  ? 

A.    That  the  pile  was  less  and  less  driven  down. 

T.   Why  was  this? 

A.    Because  the  monkey  did  not  fall  so  far. 

T.    But  if  the  weight  is  the  same,  why  do  the  results  differ? 

A.    It  is  the  falling  of  the  weight  that  makes  the  difference. 

T.  This  "falling"  is  called  motion  —  what  is  it,  then,  which 
produces  the  result? 

A.    The  motion  of  the  weight. 

T.  Let  us  call  the  weight  as  producing  an  effect  in  driving  the 
pile,  a  force.  What  is  it  when  actually  driving  the  pile? 

A.    A  moving  force. 

T.  A  moving  force  is  called  momentum.  What  is  it  made  up 
of? 


222  THE   CULTUKE   OF   THE 

A.    Motion  and  weight. 

T.  In  what  way  could  you  drive  the  pile  down  without  the 
motion  of  the  weight? 

A.    By  making  the  weight  a  good  deal  heavier. 

T.  What  advantage,  then,  is  gained  by  making  the  smaller 
weight  do  the  work  ? 

A.  It  is  much  more  convenient ;  the  smaller  weight  does  as 
much  work  by  its  motion  as  a  larger  one  would  do  without  motion. 

The  teacher  now  detaches  the  monkey  and  substitutes  one-half 
the  weight ;  he  directs  the  pupils  to  experiment  with  this  as  they 
did  with  the  first,  and  to  measure  the  result ;  then  to  attach  the 
original  weight  so  that  it  may  fall  from  half  the  original  height, 
and  to  compare  the  results. 

T.   What  is  the  momentum  in  these  two  cases  ? 

A.    The  same. 

T.   State  the  result. 

A.  The  weight  of  —  Ibs.  falling  from  a  height  of  —  feet  pro- 
duces the  same  effect  as  the  weight  of  —  Ibs.  falling  from  half  the 
height.  The  greater  fall  makes  up  for  the  smaller  weight. 

T.   Mention  other  instances  of  momentum. 

A.  A  battering  ram,  a  cannon-ball,  a  marble  shot  at  another, 
a  stone  breaking  a  pane  of  glass,  a  hammer  driving  a  nail,  &c. 

T.  You  spoke  just  now  of  the  falling  weight  as  a  "moving 
force."  May  the  weight  acting  by  itself  without  motion  also  be  a 
force  ? 

A.  Yes ;  if  it  were  placed  upon  an  apple,  it  would  crush  the 
apple. 

T.   What  other  kinds  of  force  can  you  mention  ? 

A.  The  wind  is  a  force  when  it  blows  down  a  tree ;  water  is  a 
force  when  it  moves  the  water-wheel  of  a  mill ;  gunpowder  is  a 
force  when  it  explodes  and  bursts  a  rock  to  pieces,  or  when  it  drives 
a  cannon-ball  through  the  air  ;  our  strength  is  a  force  when  we  pull 
up  the  monkey,  &c. 

III.  The  teacher  now  directs  the  pulleys  to  be  removed  and  the 
weight  to  be  pulled  up  without  them.  The  children  are  at  once 
sensible  of  the  increased  difficulty. 

T.   What  difference  do  you  now  perceive  in  your  pulling  ? 

A.   We  are  obliged  to  pull  harder  than  we  did  before. 

T.    Why  is  that? 

A.  Because  the  rope  rubs  on  the  edge  of  the  board,  which 
does  not  give  way  ;  when  it  moved  on  the  pulleys,  the  pulleys  gave 
way. 


OBSERVING   POWERS   OF   CHILDREN.  223 

T.   This  rubbing  is  called  friction.     Could  you  lessen  it  without 
using  the  pulleys  ? 

A.    Yes,  by  putting  some  grease  on  the  edge  of  the  board. 

T.    Try  that. 

The  experiment  is  made  accordingly,  and  the  rope  of  course 
moves  more  easily  ;  the  pulleys  are  then  replaced. 

T.    What,  then,  is  the  use  of  the  pulleys  here? 

A.    By  giving  way  they  lessen  the  amount  of  friction. 

IV.  The  teacher  restores  the  apparatus  to  its  first  condition, 
and  directs  the  children  to  notice  especially  the  fall  of  the  weight. 

T.    Why  does  the  weight  fall? 

A.    Because  the  clutch  opens  and  lets  it  go. 

T.    But  why  does  it  fall? 

A.  Because  every  heavy  body  falls  down  of  its  own  accord  to 
the  earth. 

T.    Give  other  instances  of  falling  bodies. 

A.  If  we  throw  a  stone  up  into  the  air  it  falls  down,  if  we  let 
go  when  we  are  climbing  up  a  tree  we  fall  down,  &c.  The  earth 
seems  to  pull  everything  down  to  itself. 

T.  This  pulling  force  is  called  gravitation,  or  the  attraction  of 
gravitation.  .  What  makes  the  weight  fall  when  it  is  let  free  ? 

A.   The  attraction  of  gravitation. 

T.    Describe  it  in  this  case. 

A.  The  earth  attracts  the  weight,  and  the  weight  falls  by  the 
attraction  of  gravitation. 

T.  Look  carefully  at  it  as  it  falls.  Does  the  attraction  increase 
or  lessen  ? 

A.    It  seems  to  increase.     The  weight  falls  faster  and  faster. 

T.  Swiftness  of  motion  is  called  velocity.  How  do  you  apply 
the  term  here. 

A.  The  velocity  increases  as  the  weight  gets  nearer  and  nearer 
to  the  earth. 

T.  A  velocity  which  increases  is  said  to  be  accelerated.  How 
do  you  apply  the  term  to  the  case  before  us? 

A.   The  attraction  of  gravitation  causes  a  body  left  free  to  fall, 
to  fall  towards  the  earth  with  accelerated  velocity. 
•  T.    But  how  much  is  the  velocity  accelerated? 

A.    We  cannot  tell,  the  weight  moves  so  very  fast.* 

•The  teacher  may,  if  he  Bees  fit,  put  many  more  questions  on  the  phenomena  of  falling 
bodieo,  and  even  introduce  Attwood's  machine  to  the  notice  and  Investigation  of  hi*  pupil*, 
who  will  be  found  quite  capable  of  comprehending  its  action.  In  reply  to  an  objection  that 


224  THE   CULTURE   OF  THE 

V.  T.   A  thing  that  makes  a  change  in  another  thing  is  called  a 
cause,  and  the  change  itself  is  called  an  effect.     What  instances  of 
cause  and  effect  do  you  perceive  in  the  action  of  this  machine  ? 

A.  The  pulling  of  the  rope  causes  the  weight  to  rise,  the  letting 
go  of  the  weight  causes  it  to  be  left  free,  the  attraction  of  gravita- 
tion causes  it  to  fall,  and  the  momentum  of  the  weight  causes  the 
pile  to  go  down. 

T.    What  was  the  first  cause  which  led  to  all  the  others  ? 

A.    The  strength  of  our  arms. 

T.    Tell  me  the  causes  separately. 

A.  1.  The  strength  of  our  arms.  2.  The  setting  the  weight 
free.  3.  The  attraction  of  gravitation  which  gave  the  weight  its 
momentum. 

T.    Now  tell  me  the  effects  separately. 

A.  1.  The  lifting  of  the  weight.  2.  The  setting  the  weight 
free.  3.  The  blow  upon  the  head  of  the  pile. 

VI.  T.    Now  I  will  read  to  you  from  a  book  some  descriptions, 
which  are  called  definitions,  of  a  few  of  the  special  words  called 
technical  terms,  which  we  have  been  using. 

1.  "A  machine  is  a  contrivance  for  applying  or  regulating  a 

moving  power  or  force."     Explain  this  by  what  you  know. 

A.  The  moving  force  is  the  weight  falling  clown  ;  it  is  applied 
to  the  head  of  the  pile  ;  and  it  is  regulated  by  making  the  weight 
heavy  enough  to  do  the  work  well,  and  by  letting  it  fall  exactly  on 
the  top. 

T.    Here  is  another  definition. 

2.  "  The  force  exerted  by  a  mass  of  matter  in  motion  is  called, 

in  mechanics,  momentum  or  moving  force."     Explain  this. 
A.    The  mass  of  matter  in  motion  is  the  weight,  and  it  exerts  its 
force  in  driving  the  pile. 

T.    Here  is  a  third  definition. 

3.  "  Friction  or  rubbing  is  the  resistance  which  a  moving  body 

meets  with  from  the  surface  on  which  it  moves."    Explain 
this. 

A.  The  friction  of  the  rope  against  the  board  when  the  pulleys 
were  taken  away  prevented  us  from  pulling  up  the  weight  easily. 

The  teacher  may  give  at  will  more  or  fewer  of  these  definitions, 
but  will  require  in  each  case  that  the  explanation  of  the  pupil  shall 
be  founded  on  the  facts  that  he  knows.  This  condition  is  indis- 

has  been  made  to  the  use  of  costly  machines  in  common  schools,  the  writer  would  suggest 
that  they  might  be  let  out  on  hire,  and  passed  on  from  school  to  school  as  required.  The 
expense  in  this  way  would  be  trifling,  while  the  benefit  would  be  very  great. 


OBSERVING  POWERS   OF   CHILDREN.  225 

pensable.  A  definition  founded  on  facts  which  he  does  not  yet 
know,  is  no  definition  to  him.  This  consideration  suggests  the 
expediency  of  endeavoring  to  obtain  from  him  in  his  own  language, 
however  imperfect,  the  expression  of  the  ideas,  which  he  has 
gained  from  the  facts  with  which  he  has  been  dealing,  before  the 
definitions  of  others,  founded  on  the  same  or  similar  facts,  are 
brought  under  his  notice.  The  teacher  closes  the  lesson  by  direct- 
ing every  pupil  to  write  down  the  definitions,  as  he  may  remember 
them,  each  on  a  separate  page  of  a  book  set  apart  for  the  purpose, 
with  a  view  to  placing  under  them  the  new  cases  which  ma}*  after- 
wards occur,  as  additional  illustrations.  He  adds,  in  dismissing 
the  class  :  "  Let  each  one  contrive  some  other  machine  for  doing 
the  same  work,  and  bring  a  model  or  drawing  of  it  for  the  next 
lesson." 

The  next  lesson  will  consist  of  a  repetition  of  the  main  points 
of  the  first,  with  an  examination  into  the  action  of  the  clutch,  more 
experiments  on  velocity,  momentum,  friction,  &c.,  as  shown  in  other 
machines  and  in  common  operations  known  to  the  children.  The 
products  of  their  own  invention  will  then  be  brought  forward  and 
submitted  to  the  criticism  of  the  class,  guided  by  the  teacher,  who, 
in  his  turn,  may  give  his  own  inventions,  and  submit  them  to 
criticism.  The  definitions,  too,  will  be  repeated  and  tested  by  the 
facts.  In  the  third  lesson  the  teacher,  having  removed  the  machine 
out  of  sight,  will  examine  the  class  upon  the  ideas  they  retain  of  its 
form,  operations,  &c.,  as  well  as  on  the  technical  terms  which  they 
have  learnt,  and  finally  exhibit  a  well-executed  drawing  of  the 
machine,  which  is  forthwith  to  take  its  place  on  the  walls  of  the 
school-room. 

The  first  sentence  in  the  language  of  machines  has  now  been  to 
some  extent  learnt  —  learnt  as  a  whole  and  in  its  principal  parts  ; 
its  clauses,  many  of  its  words,  and  some  of  its  letters  appreciated. 
It  is  t\\e  point  de  depart  from  which  the  pupil  sets  out  in  the  acqui- 
sition of  fresh  knowledge  of  the  general  subject,  and  to  which  all 
that  knowledge  is  to  be  continually  referred.  It  is  the  "  quelqne 
chose  "  of  Jacotot's  famous  maxim,  "  Apprenez  quelque  chose  et 
rapportez-y  tout  le  reste." 

In  reflecting  on  the  principles  involved  in  this  lesson,  we 
notice, 

1.  That  the  learner  has  throughout  had  his  mind  brought  into 
direct  contact  with  material  substances  and  phenomena  at  first 
hand  ;  these  he  has  himself  seen,  handled,  and  experimented  upon, 
and  in  so  doing  has  gained  mental  cognitions  and  experiences  more 


226  THE   CULTUJIE   OF  THE 

valuable  than  any  that  he  could  have  gained  by  descriptions  of 
them  or  commentaries  upon  them  furnished  by  others. 

2.  That  the  method  he  has  employed  is   the  true  method  of 
analytical  investigation,  and  proceeds  from  the  whole  to  the  parts, 
from  the  complex  to  the  simple,  and  not  vice  versd. 

3.  That  bj7  being  an  observer,  explorer,  and  experimenter  on  his 
own  account,  examining  things  with  his  own  senses,  and  employing 
his   own   intellect  directly  upon    them,  the   ideas   that  he  gains 
respecting  them  are  clear  and  definite  as  far  as  they  go,  and  serve 
as  a  solid  substratum  for  those  which  he  is  afterwards  to  associate 
with  them. 

4.  That  he  learns  to  use  words  as  the  symbols  of  things  that  he 
knows,  technical  and  conventional  terms  being  supplied,  when,  and 
not  before,  they  are  needed  to  facilitate  the  operations  of  the  mind. 

5.  That  the  habits  of  mind  acquired  by  the  process  of  teaching 
himself  in  this  special  case,  are  such  as  prepare  him  for  independ- 
ent mental  self-direction,  and  therefore  for  the  successful  study 
of  other  subjects,  literary  as  well  as  scientific. 

We  also  notice  (6)  that  the  teacher  while  really  the  mainspring 
of  the  educational  machinery  —  all  along  supporting  its  movements 
by  his  moral  and  intellectual  influence  —  acts  strictly  as  the  super- 
intendent of  the  processes  on  which  its  efficiency  depends.  He 
removes,  when  necessary,  hindrances  out  of  the  way,  and  places 
the  workers  in  the  best  position  for  accomplishing  their  object,  but 
he  carefully  abstains  from  doing  any  part  of  the  work  for  them. 
He  directs  their  action  but  does  not  interfere  with  it.  He  therefore 
explains  nothing,  and  tells  nothing,  except  technical  terms,  which, 
as  being  conventional,  the  children  could  not  find  out  for  them- 
selves. He  uses  no  book,  but  treats  the  machine  as  a  book, 
which  they  are  to  learn  to  read  for  themselves  under  his  direction. 

Opinions  will  of  course  differ  as  to  the  value  of  this  typical  first 
lesson  in  mechanics.  It  may  be  said  that  the  information  gained 
by  it  is  very  small,  and  might  more  easily  have  been  given  by  the 
teacher.  A  full  reply  to  this  objection«would  be  a  mere  repetition 
of  the  principles  already  stated.  It  must,  however,  be  remembered 
that  mental  training  —  the  direct  object  in  view  —  does  not  consist 
in  giving  information,  but  rather  in  stimulating  the  mind  to  gain 
information  for  itself.  The  act  of  gaining  it  by  a  mental  effort 
involves  and  is  the  training  of  the  faculties.  In  the  lesson  just 
described,  whatever  knowledge  was  gained  was  the  direct  result  of 
the  pupil's  own  observation  and  experiment,  through  the  teaching 
of  the  machine  —  not  through  the  didactic  teaching  of  the  in- 


OBSERVING   POWERS   OF   CHILDREN.  227 

structor.  The  pupil  was  an  original  investigator,  applying  all  hie 
powers  to  ascertain  what  the  machine  was  and  what  it  could  do, 
and  the  teacher  was  a  superintendent  or  director  of  the  process, 
anxious  to  make  it  as  fruitful  and  efficient  as  possible.  As  the 
head  teacher  —  the  machine  itself —  was  at  hand,  ready  to  interpret 
itself  in  the  expressive  and  forcible  language  of  facts,  the  subordi- 
nate recognized  his  own  proper  function,  as  the  director  of  the 
process  of  interrogation,  but  not  the  interpreter  of  the  answers. 
To  have  assumed  this  office  would  have  been  an  injurious  inter- 
ference with  the  instruction  efficiently,  conducted  by  his  principal. 
We  see,  then,  in  this  lesson  a  typical  specimen  of  a  process  by 
which  the  pupil  teaches  himself,  that  is,  learns  without  the  ex- 
planations of  the  teacher,  and  in  gaining  a  certain  quantity  of 
knowledge  gains  also  the  power  of  acquiring  more. 

In  some  such  way  as  this,  maintaining  the  principle,  while 
varying  the  form  of  its  application,  it  is  presumed  that  a  solid 
foundation  will  be  laid  for  a  real  training  of  the  mind  —  a  training 
which  will  be  the  best  preparation  for  further  instruction,  not  only 
in  science  but  also  in  literature. 

It  will  be  thought  by  some  who  may  accept  generally  the  fore- 
going principles  that  a  needlessly  difficult  illustration  of  the  theory 
has  been  selected,  and  that  it  would  be  better  to  introduce  the 
subject  of  mechanics  by  taking  for  the  first  lesson  simple  levers, 
&c.,  and  so  proceeding  from  the  simple  to  the  more  complex  —  by 
"  beginning,"  in  short  at  what  is  usually  called  "  the  beginning." 
The  general  reply  to  this  objection  is  (1)  that  the  investigator, 
inquiring  into  a  new  science,  strictly  speaking,  does  not  know 
what  the  beginning  is,  and  cannot,  therefore,  commence  with  it  — 
and  (2)  that  the  fundamental  point  in  the  teaching  here  recom- 
mended is  that  it  requires  the  pupil  to  be  considered  as  an  inves- 
tigator. In  other  words,  the  process  is  analytical,  not  synthetical, 
and  the  pupil  a  student  of  inductive,  not  of  deductive,  philosophy. 
His  business  is  to  get  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  facts  before 
him  with  the  view  of  framing  them,  as  he  proceeds,  into  general 
propositions,  but  the  logical  co-ordination  of  these  propositions 
into  a  system  is,  while  he  is  yet  in  his  noviciate,  no  part  of  his 
business.  As  he  advances  in  his  course,  he  will  rise  to  higher  and 
higher  generalizations,  and  see  more  and  more  clearly  the  relation 
of  the  principles  that  he  has  gained,  and  at  last,  when  he  is  master 
of  his  subject,  will  arrive  at  the  beginning — and,  may,  perhaps, 
write  a  treatise  upon  it  in  which  all  the  propositions  which  consti- 
tute the  science  are  logically  arranged.  Such  a  treatise,  however, 


228  THE   CULTURE   OF    THE 

will  in  no  sense  represent  the  process  by  which  he  gained  his 
knowledge,  but  rather  its  exact  converse.  Hence,  a  book  of  this 
kind  is  wholly  unsuited  to  the  wants  of  a  young  investigator  who 
is  to  gain  knowledge  as  the  author  gained  it.  Such  books  are, 
however,  on  account  of  their  logical  completeness,  often  p-ut  into 
the  hands  of  children  b}-  teachers  ignorant  of  the  science  of  edu- 
cation, who  do  not  perceive  that  the  very  characteristics  which 
give  them  their  value  in  the  e}-es  of  those  who  are  already  educated 
render  them  unfit  for  the  use  of  those  who  are  learning  how  to 
learn.  It  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  scientifically  constructed 
school-books,  whatever  be  their  intrinsic  merit  as  compendiums  of 
knowledge,  ought  to  be  reckoned  among  the  hindrances,  not  the 
aids,  to  early  education,  and  indeed  that  their  real  fitness  for  their 
purpose  is  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  their  logical  completeness.  The 
knowledge  displayed  in  them  may  be  accurate,  the  propositions 
they  present  uuimpeachably  expressed  —  both  the  matter,  in  short, 
and  the  manner  admirably  adapted  to  the  prepared  mind  —  and 
3-et  they  may  be,  and  often  are,  wholly  uusuited  to  the  mind 
under  training.  The  food  is  of  the  best  quality,  and  is  artistically 
cooked,  but  it  is  so  concentrated  that  the  youthful  stomach  cannot 
possibly  digest  it.  The  purveyor  in  this  case  is  surely  somewhat 
to  blame  for  arrangements  ending  in  such  results.  The  fact  is 
that  he  has  not  truly  understood  the  nature  of  the  apparatus  which 
he  was  directing,  and  nothing  short  of  a  radical  change  of  plan 
will  enable  him  to  correct  his  error.  What  this  radical  change 
should  be  has  been  already  indicated. 

It  appears,  then,  that  scientifically  constructed  treatises  which 
begin  at  the  beginning  —  a  beginning  which  is  really  the  end  of 
the  investigator's  labors  —  are  unsuited  to  the  wants  of  a  child 
who  is  to  be  himself  an  investigator,  and  who,  in  pursuing  his 
process  of  self -instruction,  can  only  advance  from  the  concrete  to 
the  abstract,  from  particulars  to  generals,  from  instances  to  rules, 
arid  who,  moreover,  has  no  choice  but  to  advance  from  the  whole 
to  the  parts,  and  then  conversely  from  the  parts  to  the  whole. 
This  is  in  fact  Nature's  method.  She  does  not  commence  with 
the  elements  —  with  ABC.  She  supplies  no  grammar  of  the 
senses.  She  teaches  language  by  giving  whole  sentences  or  whole 
words,  and  physics,  by  presenting  wholes,  aggregates,  or  complex 
facts,  and  stimulating  the  analytic  faculty  to  resolve  them  into 
their  parts  or  individual  phenomena.  The  justification,  then,  for 
beginning  the  instruction  in  mechanics  by  a  machine  rather  than 
by  the  elements  of  which  it  is  composed,  by  concrete  facts  rather 


OBSKKV1NG    POWJfcCKS    OF   CHILDREN.  229 

than  abstractions,  is  seen  to  be  inherent  in  the  nature  of  the 
process  recommended.  If  the  child  is  to  investigate  facts  at  first 
hand,  we  must  imitate  Nature  by  giving  him  something  to  investi- 
gate which  will  exercise  his  analytical  powers  ;  something  divisible 
into  parts  or  elements  —  which,  after  due  recognition  as  individual 
elements,  will  be  traced  in  the  composition  of  other  wholes.  On 
the  same  principle,  if  he  is  to  learn  to  frame  general  propositions 
himself,  he  must  commence  by  knowing  the  facts  which  they  are 
to  express  —  that  is,  by  induction  of  particulai-s.  But  this  practice 
in  forming  inductions  of  his  own  will  be  a  powerful  aid  to  his 
understanding  the  inductions  of  others  founded  on  the  same  or 
similar  facts,  and  will  moreover  prepare  him  for  proceeding  in  due 
time,  conversely,  from  general  propositions  to  facts  by  the  method 
of  deduction. 

Whether  such  lessons  in  mechanics  as  have  been  suggested 
should  follow  or  accompany  Miss  Youmans'  "  Lessons  in  Botan}*," 
or  whether  any  other  subject  involving  the  notion  of  forces  should 
be  taken  instead  of  mechanics,  are  questions  which  must  be  left 
to  the  judgment  of  the  teacher. 

Finally,  it  should  be  carefully  noticed  that  the  spirit  of  these 
remarks  on  elementary  teaching  will  not  have  been  appreciated 
unless  it  is  fully  understood  that  the  change  proposed  is  funda- 
mental—  even  revolutionary.*  It  is  intended  to  supersede  the 
didactic,  telling,  explaining,  condescending  method  which  has  long 
prevailed,  by  one  in  which  the  child's  own  intellect  is  recognized 
as  the  prime  mover,  and  the  exercise  of  his  powers  of  perception 
and  reasoning  as  the  only  means  by  which  knowledge  which  can 
be  truly  called  his  own,  is  to  be  gained  ;  by  a  method,  in  short,  of 
self-teaching,  under  superintendence  —  a  method  which  is  rather 
the  learner's  than  the  teacher's. f  The  didactic  method  has  had 
its  day,  and  we  see  its  results,  which  are  generally  "  a  farrago  of 

*  "  The  principle  of  connecting  education  with  the  laws  of  Nature  Is  rndical  and  In,  as  yet, 
little  appreciated,  and  still  lc-.s  worked  out.  When  admitted  and  carried  into  practice,  it 
must  revolutionize  educational  procedure,  and  in  1  believe,  the  only  sound  foundation  for  the 
education  of  the  future,  and  the  only  method  which  can  bring  education  into  consonance  with 
the  method  which  has  been  so  successful  In  scientific  investigation."  From  a  MS.  Lecture, 
one  of  a  course  on  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Education,  now  being  delivered  by  3fr. 
Lake,  of  the  College  of  Preceptors,  at  the  Xorth  London  Collegiate  and  Camdtn  Schools 
for  Girls. 

t  Very  interesting  Illustrations  of  this  kind  of  teaching  may  be  seen  In  Mr.  Wilson  of 
Rugby's  description  of  his  method  of  making  a  class  "teach  themselves"  physical  science 
(Essays  on  a  Liberal  Education,  p.  281),  and  in  Professor  Tyndall's  description  of  the 
experiments  at  Queenswood  College,  in  which  he  got  his  pupils  to  "find  out  Euclid"  for 
themselves;  a  process  by  which  they  gained  what  he  calls  "self-power,"  and  learned 
geometry  as  a  "  means  and  not  a  branch  of  education."  —  Lecture  on  the  Study  of  Physics, 
delivered  at  the  Royal  Institution,  pp.  202-204. 


230     CULTURE  OF   OBSERVING   POWERS   OF   CHILDREN. 

facts  partially  hatched  into  principles,  of  exceptions  claiming 
equal  rank  with  rules,  of  definitions  dislocated  from  the  objects 
they  define,  and  of  technicalities  which  clod  rather  than  facilitate 
the  operations  of  the  mind."*  It  is  not  too  much  then  to  say 
that  this  method  quenches  instead  of  quickening  mental  develop- 
ment. It  does  not  give  children  credit  for  the  powers  they  possess, 
and  therefore  fails  to  elicit  them.  It  has  nothing  in  common  with 
that  which  Burke,  in  a  well-known  passage,  characterizes  as  "in- 
comparably the  best,"f  and  which  recognizes  even  the  youngest 
child  f.s  an  investigator,  who  has  only  to  be  set  on  the  right  path, 
and  to  be  competently  directed,  to  find  out  truths  for  himself.  J 
It  cannot,  therefore,  be  a  means  of  that  training  of  vital  forces 
which,  in  the  case  of  every  human  being,  as  an  organism  charac- 
teristically endowed  with  will,  must,  under  competent  direction, 
be  ultimately  wrought  out  by  himself. 

The  great  principles  in  short,  (1)  that  knowledge  is  acquired  by 
investigation,  through  observation  and  experiment,  and  (2)  that 
the  acquisition  of  it  in  this  way,  at  first  hand,  constitutes  the  best 
training  of  the  youthful  mind,  are  seen  to  be  in  direct  opposition 
to  that  which  assumes  the  incapacity  of  the  child  to  learn  except 
b}r  means  of  the  direct  communication  of  the  teacher's  knowledge, 
accompanied  by  the  teacher's  explanations  and  tellings,  and  which 
therefore  supersedes  and  neutralizes  the  most  fruitful  employment 
of  the  child's  faculties.  That  only  is  to  be  considered  a  fruitful 
employment  of  the  mental  faculties,  and  answering  the  true  ends 
of  education,  which  leads  to  enlargement  of  mental  view,  to  the 
sharpening  of  the  perceptive  faculties,  to  the  formation  of  habits  of 
observing  and  investigating,  to  the  strengthening  of  the  memory, 
and  generally  to  the  development  of  intellectual  power,  not  only  as 
an  object  in  itself,  but  as  a  basis  for  moral  and  religious  character. 

*  From  a  paper  on  "  The  Correlation  of  Learning  and  Teaching,"  read  by  the  editor  at  one 
of  the  evening  meetings  of  the  Social  Science  Association.  Numerous  other  illustrations  and 
arguments  bearing  upon  the  general  subject  may  be  also  found  in  his  three  lectures  "  On  the 
Science  and  Art  of  Education,  and  Educational  Methods,"  published  by  the  Council  of  the 
College  of  Preceptors. 

t  "  I  am  convinced  that  the  method  of  teaching  [or  learning]  which  approaches  most  nearly 
to  the  method  of  investigation  is  incomparably  the  best;  since,  not  content  with  serving  up  a 
few  barren  and  lifeless  truths,  it  leads  to  the  stock  on  which  they  grew;  it  tends  to  set  the 
reader  [or  learner]  himself  on  the  track  of  invention,  and  to  direct  him  into  those  paths  in 
which  the  author  [or  investigator]  has  made  his  own  discoveries."— On  the  Sublime  and 
Beautiful.  It  would  be  curious  to  inquire  how  many  English  Teachers,  even  those  who 
have  acknowledged  the  general  truth  of  this  remark,  have  ever  practically  applied  it. 

J  "  Qu'il  (the  child)  nc  sache  rien  parce  quo  vons  le  lui  avez  dit,  mais  parce  qu'il  1'a  compris 
lui-meme;  qu'il  n'apprenne  pas  la  science,  qu'il  Cinvente."  —  ROUSSEAU,  Emile. 


THE 

CURRICULUM 


OF 


MODERN   EDUCATION, 


AND 


THE  RESPECTIVE  CLAIMS  OF  CLASSICS  AND  SCIENCE 
TO  BE  REPRESENTED  IN  IT  CONSIDERED. 


Being  the  substance  of  two  Lectures  delivered  at  the  Monthly  Evening  Meetings 
of  the  College  of  Preceptors,  April  Uth,  and  May  9th,  1866. 


"  Not  to  know  at  )ar(?e  of  things  remote   ' 
From  use,  obscure  and  subtle,  but  to  know 
That  which  before  us  lies  in  daily  life, 
Is  the  prime  wisdom  :  wh:it  is  more  is  fume, 
Or  emptiness,  or  fond  impertinence, 
And  renders  us,  in  things  that  most  concern, 
Unpractised,  unprepared,  and  still  to  seek." 

MILTON. 


PREFACE. 


THE  following  pages  contain  the  substance,  with  some  alterations 
and  additions,  of  two  Lectures  lately  delivered  at  the  College  of 
Preceptors,  and  the  writer  seeks  by  the  publication  of  them  the 
suffrages  of  that  larger  audience  with  which  lies  the  ultimate 
decision  in  discussions  of  this  kind. 

The  question  of  the  curriculum  is  daily  becoming  more  and  more 
important.  The  demand  that  it  shall  represent,  in  a  far  greater 
degree  than  it  has  hitherto  done,  the  wants  and  wishes,  the  active 
energies,  and  in  short  the  spirit,  of  the  age,  cannot  be,  and  ought 
not  to  be,  set  aside.  This  claim,  which  involves  particularly  the 
pretensions  of  physical  science  to  be  represented  in  the  curricu- 
lum, is  much  strengthened  by  the  consideration,  that  science 
furnishes,  when  properly  taught,  a  kind  of  educational  training  of 
special  value,  as  a  complement  to  that  of  language.  The  writer 
has  attempted  to  show,  that  science  teaches' better,  that  is,  more 
directly  and  soundly  than  any  other  study,  how  to  observe,  how  to 
arrange  and  classify,  how  to  connect  causes  with  effects,  how  to 
comprehend  details  under  general  laws,  how  to  estimate  the  prac- 
tical value  of  facts.  Having,  however,  dealt  out  this  measure  of 
justice  to  science,  he  maintains  that  the  difficulties  which  lie  in  the 
way  of  the  attainment  of  these  valuable  results,  by  means  of 
school  education,  have  not  yet  been  overcome ;  and  that  even  if 
they  were,  and  science  were  fully  admitted  into  the  curriculum, — 
which  ought  to  be  the  case, — that  the  classical  and  literary  training 
is  better  adapted  to  the  development  of  the  whole  man  than  the 
scientific,  and  should  therefore  take  the  lead.  In  pursuing  this 
argument,  he  has  been  lead  specially  to  deal  with  two  fallacies, 
which,  under  a  variety  of  forms,  are  extensively  prevalent  at 
present,  and,  by  their  evil  influence,  tend  very  much  to  hinder  the 
cause  which  they  are,  apparently,  designed  to  promote.  The  first 
is,  That  because  there  is  so  inuch  to  know  in  the  world,  we  are 
bound  to  try  to  make  our  children  learn  it  all.  The  second  is, 
That  because  there  is  so  much  to  do  in  the  world,  we  ought  to 
force  all  kinds  of  business  upon  children's  attention  beforehand, 


234  PREFACE. 

by  way  of  preparation  for  it ;  in  other  words,  that  the  omne  scibile 
and  the  omne  facibile  (to  use  a  barbarous  Latin  word)  ought  to  be 
comprehended  in  every  good  curriculum  of  education.  If  he  has 
succeeded  in  exploding  these  fallacies,  and  in  making  good  his 
own  proposition,  that  all  true  education  involves,  fundamentally, 
training,  and  training  of  a  kind  that  is  quite  incompatible  with  tiie 
claims  of  any  system  in  which  accumulation  is  the  first  principle, 
and  special  preparation  the  second,  he  hopes  to  gain  the  thanks  of 
all  judicious  and  really  competent  authorities  in  science ;  of  all 
who  mean  by  teaching  science,  training  the  mind  to  scientific 
method,  to  habits  of  investigation,  and  the  diligent  search  after 
truth. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  recent  Report  on  the  results 
of  classical  teaching  in  our  public  schools,  and  especially  in  the 
case  of  Eton,  has  done  much  to  strengthen  the  cause  of  those  who 
wish  to  see  a  reform  in  the  curriculum.  Few  men,  perhaps,  at 
the  head  of  public  institutions  have  ever  stood  in  a  more  humiliat- 
ing position  than  that  occupied,  about  four  years  ago  by  the 
Head-Master  of  Eton,  who,  being  under -examination  before  the 
Commission  on  Public  Schools,  could  only  say,  in  reply  to  the 
following  pungent  remarks  of  Lord  Clarendon,  the  chairman, 
that  he  was  "soriy";  —  thus  allowing  the  full  force  of  the 
charges  implied.  "Nothing  can  be  worse,"  said  his  Lordship, 
"than  this  state  of  things,  when  we  find  modern  languages, 
geography,  history,  chronology,  and  everything  else  which  a  well- 
educated  English  gentleman  ought  to  know,  given  up  in  order 
that  the  full  time  should  be  devoted  to  the  classics ;  and  at  the 
same  time  we  are  told,  that  the  boys  go  up  to  Oxford  not  only 
not  proficient,  but  in  a  lamentable  state  of  deficiency  with  respect 
to  the  classics." 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  those  who  were  before  discon- 
tented with  the  established  course  of  study  in  our  public  schools, 
became,  after  such  a  statement  of  facts,  amply  borne  out  as  it 
was  by  the  evidence,  so  indignant  as  to  demand,  in  the  interests 
of  philanthropy  as  well  as  science,  that  the  system  which  had 
borne  such  fruits  should  be  not  only  degraded,  but  deposed.  This 
violent  reaction  cannot,  however,  be  sustained.  The  abuse  must 
not  be  confounded  with  the  use.  It  may  be  true  that  very  little  be- 
sides classics  is  taught  at  Eton,  and  that  they  are  not  learnt ;  but 
this  is  no  argument  against  either  the  theory  or  the  practice  of 
classical  instruction.  But  while  the  present  writer,  who  has  had 
long  experience  in  teaching,  defends  generally  that  theory  and 


PREFACE.  235 

practice,  he  believes  that  the  time  is  come  for  such  a  modification 
of  its  working,  at  least  in  the  middle-class  schools,  as  will  admit 
of  the  honorable  introduction  of  science  into  the  curriculum.  It 
is  then  as  a  friend,  and  not  as  an  enemy  to  science,  that  he  has 
endeavored  to  clear  the  ground  of  some  of  the  frivolous  and 
damaging  arguments  which  theorists  have  imported  into  the  dis- 
cussion, and  to  plead  that  it  shall  be  so  taught  as  to  make  it  a  real 
mental  exercise.  Thus  introduced  as  a  co-ordinate  discipline,  it 
would  prove  a  most  valuable  ally  in  education,  and  take  its  proper 
place  among  the  great  elements  which  are  moulding  the  civili- 
zation of  the  age. 

4,  KILDARE  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER, 
July  1,  1866. 


THE  CURRICULUM  OF  MODERN  EDUCATION, 


RESPECTIVE    CLAIMS    OF  CLASSICS  AND  SCIENCE  TO   BE 
REPRESENTED   IN   IT  CONSIDERED. 


FROM  the  time  when  the  idea  was  first  conceived  of  interfering 
with  the  natural  libei*ty  of  children,  and  setting  yiem  down  on 
benches  or  on  the  ground  to  "  learn,"  the  question  of  what  they 
should  be  taught  could  not  fail  to  be  one  of  great  interest.  An 
inquiry  into  the  details  of  the  various  curricula  arranged  for  the 
purpose  of  instruction,  by  the  wise  men  of  the  different  nations  of 
antiquity,  would  no  doubt  elicit  much  that  would  be  valuable  for 
the  purpose  of  a  writer  on  the  History  of  Education,  but  opens  up 
far  too  wide  a  field  for  our  present  limits.  It  may,  however,  be 
observed  generally,  in  passing,  that  the  scientific  or  practical 
element  seems  to  have  prevailed  more  in  the  primary  schools  of 
Egypt,  India,  Phoenicia,  and  Persia ;  the  linguistic  or  literary  in 
those  of  Judea,  China,  Greece,  and  Rome.  Exception  may,  no 
doubt,  be  taken  to  this  general  statement,  which  however,  I  must 
leave  in  its  vagueness,  without  even  a  momentary  effort  to  estimate 
the  comparative  value  of  the  various  curricula  in  their  relation  to 
the  spirit  and  character  of  the  respective  nations  which  adopted 
them ;  and  without  even  contrasting,  as  educational  products, 
Plato,  the  pupil  of  Socrates,  on  the  one  side,  and  Alexander  the 
Great,  the  pupil  of  Aristotle,  on  the  other. 

Descending,  then,  as  at  a  leap,  to  the  commencement  of  the 
Middle  Ages  in  Europe,  we  find  the  omne  scibile  comprehended, 
for  the  purpose  of  teaching,  in  two  groups  ;  the  Trivium,  consist- 
ing of  Grammar,  Logic,  and  Rhetoric ;  and  the  Quadrivium,  of 
Arithmetic,  Music,  Geometry,  and  Astronomy.  These  subjects 
were  designated  by  Cassiodorus,  the  literary  adviser  and  friend  of 
Theodoric,  the  "  seven  pillars  "  hewn  out  by  Wisdom  to  build  her 

house  upon.*     The  structure,  however,  then,  and  for  a  thousand 

— i . 

*  "  Wisdom  hath  bullded  her  house :  she  hath  hewn  out  her  seven  pillars."    (Prov.  ir.  1.) 


238  THE  CURRICULUM  OF  MODERN  EDUCATION. 

years  after,  remain  unfinished ;  and  even  at  the  present  day  it 
must  be  acknowledged  that  Wisdom's  house  of  education  is  by  no 
means  distinguished  for  symmetrical  beauty  and  completeness.  In 
the  rivalry  which,  not  unnaturally,  arose  between  these  two  courses 
of  study,  it  would  appear  that  the  physical  or  strict  sciences  were 
usually  defeated  ;  for,  either  from  indolence  or  distaste,  the  founda- 
tion of  th%  Trivium,  to  which  precedence  in  education  was  con- 
sidered due,  was  generally  so  long  in  laying  that  the  pupil  rarely 
reached  what  was  then  treated  as  the  higher  course.  Practical!}', 
indeed,  in  the  lower  schools,  no  attempt  was  made  to  go  much 
beyond  "  Grammar,"  which,  in  connection  with  the  study  of  Latin 
alone  at  first,  and  subsequently  of  Greek,  with  a  little  reading,  writ- 
ing, and  arithmetic,  formed  the  common  course  for  English  boys  in 
the  fQurteenth,«fifteeuth,  and  sixteenth  centuries.  If  the  curriculum 
of  school  education  is  to  be  considered  -as  reflecting  the  spirit  of  the 
age,  which,  however,  is  not,  as  we  see  in  our  own  case,  a  fair 
criterion,  it  would  appear  that  plrysical  science  was  in  those  times, 
if  not  altogether  neglected,  at  least  treated  with  indifference ;  for 
not  only  in  schools,  but  even  in  the  universities,  the  quadrivials 
were  as  Harrison  remarks,  "  smallie  regarded."*  This  state  of 
things,  continuing  almost  unaltered  to  the  seventeenth  century, 
roused  the  indignation  of  Milton,  who  denounces  "  the  hailing  and 
dragging  of  our  choicest  and  hopefullest  wits  to  that  asinine  feast 
of  sowthistles  and  brambles,  which  is  commonly  set  before  them  as 
all  the  food  and  entertainment  of  their  tenderest  and  most  docible 
age  ;"  while  Cowley,  rather  later,  pleads  for  the  initiation  of  chil- 
dren into"  "  the  knowledge  of  things  as  well  as  words,"  and  for  the 
"  infusing  knowledge  and  language  at  the  same  time  into  them." 
Both  these  eminent  men  constructed  schemes,  on  paper,  for  revolu- 
tionizing the  existing  curriculum  in  accordance  with  their  views. 
Inasmuch,  however,  as  they  were  in  no  respect  themselves  the  fruit 
of  the  system  they  advocated,  nor  recommended  it  (I  allude 
specially  to  Milton)  by  their  own  practice,  the  public  generally 
seems  to  have  attached  little  importance  to  their  views,  and 
certainly  showed  no  desire  to  adopt  them. 

After  their  days,  the  established  system  was  occasionally  com- 
plained of  (notably  by  Locke  and  Clarke,  and  more  recently  by 
Sydney  Smith)  ;  but  within  the  last  fifty  years,  various  causes 
have  tended  to  strengthen  the  assailants  and  give  piquancy  to  the 
strife;  and  at  the  present  moment,  more  than  ever  before,  the 

*  Harrison's  "  Description  of  England,"  prefixed  to  Holinshed's  Chronicle,  1577. 


THE   CURRICULUM   OF   MODERN    EDUCATION.  239 

advocates  of  the  old  and  new  systems  respectively  are  pertina- 
ciously presenting  their  claims  to  the  arbitration  of  the  public. 
The  maintenance  of  a  hostile  feeling  is,  however,  much  to  be 
deprecated.  This  question  may  be,  it  is  hoped,  dispassionately 
discussed ;  and  for  myself,  though  advocating  the  retention  of 
much  of  the  old  system,  I  am,  as  will  be  seen,  strongly  impressed 
with  the  great  claims  of  science,  and  disposed  to  recomaend  a  fair 
and  liberal  compromise.  I  cannot  but  think  that  curriculum 
framed  in  such  a  way  as  to  retain. the  sound  discipline  of  the 
old  classical  course,  and  to  embrace  the  vivifying  influences  of  the 
scientific  element,  would  prove  advantageous  to  both.  Science, 
judiciously  and  thoroughly  taught,  supplies  a  training  of  a 
different  kind  from  that  supplied  by  classics,  and  of  a  kind 
especially  adapted  to  correct  the  defects  of  the  latter.  This  has 
been,  indeed,  to  some  extent,  admitted  by  the  general  introduction 
of  mathematics  into  the  curriculum.  It  will,  however,  be  shown 
that  pure  mathematics  are  not  sufficiently  comprehensive  for  the 
purpose.  The  observational  and  experimental  sciences,  besides 
being  more  generally  inviting  as  a  study  than  mathematics,  are 
recommended,  too,  by  their  much  closer  connection  with  the 
interests  and  happiness  of  mankind.  The  fact  cannot  be  denied, 
that  our  general  school  curriculum  includes  much  that  is  not 
practically  available  in  the  world  for  which  it  is  by  theory  a  prepa- 
ration, and  excludes  much  that  is ;  that  it  rests  mainly  on  the 
traditions  and  experience  of  the  past ;  and  that  it  does  not  appear 
to  keep  pace,  pan  passu,  with  the  actual  life,  the  feelings,  and 
hopes,  and  aspirations  of  the  present.  If  these  admissions,  literally 
interpreted,  are  to  be  considered  sufficient  causes  for  condemnation, 
the  question  is  at  once  decided,  and  society  has  only  to  order  the 
delinquent  for  execution  without  delay.  Before,  however,  the 
matter  is  thus  summarily  disposed  of,  the  defendant  should,  and 
indeed  must,  in  all  fairness,  be  allowed  to  plead  his  cause  at  the  bar 
of  reason  and  common  sense.  In  the  case  of  this  as  of  other  time- 
honored  institutions,  it  will  probably  be  found  that  we  are  not  so 
very  much  wiser  than  our  fathers  as  we  may  at  first  sight  be 
disposed  to  flatter  ourselves.  The  very  fact  of  the  antiquity  of  an 
institution  is,  at  all  events,  a  respectable  plea,  and  should  not  be 
wantonly  rejected.  It  must,  however,  bo  admitted  that  this  plea 
has  not  in  our  day  the  strength  which  it  once  had.  Old  institu- 
tions, of  whatever  kind,  are  now  required  to  prove  that  they 
deserve  to  live,  if  that  privilege  is  to  be  allowed  them. 

In  the  case  before  us,  we  have  an  extreme  party  of  reformers, 


240  THE  CURRICULUM   OF   MODERN  EDUCATION. 

who  without  hesitation  declare  that  the  proper  place  for  classical 
instruction  in  the  curriculum  .is  no  place  at  all  —  who  would  not 
only  dethrone  it  from  the  position  it  has  so  long  held,  but  thrust  it 
ignominiously  forth.  This  is  the  not  unnatural  reaction  against  the 
unwarrantable  assumption  on  the  other  side,  that  the  proper  place 
of  classics  in  the  curriculum  is  the  whole  curriculum ;  that  they 
nlone  constitute  "learning;"  and  that  the  most  honorable  and 
lucrative  positions  in  society  ought  to  be  allotted,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  to  those  who  hold  their  certificate.  Exaggerated  preten- 
sions, however,  on  whichever  side  they  are  held,  only  injure  the 
cause  of  those  who  maintain  them,  and  in  the  present  case  are 
especially  unsuitable.  For,  as  between  the  rival  claims  of  language 
and  literature  on  the  one  side,  and  science  on  the  other,  there  is 
surely  much  to  be  said  for  both  so  true  and  so  reasonable  as  to 
claim  the  respectful  attention  of  all  fair  and  competent  judges.  It 
must  never  be  forgotten  that  out  of  those  ages  in  which  science, 
properly  so  called,  was  unknown,  came  forth  the  great  teachers  of 
mankind,  the  pioneers,  nay  more,  the  efficient  agents,  by  words  and 
deeds,  in  originating  and  carrying  on  the  civilization  of  the  human 
race.  This  important  work  was  accomplished  by  men  utterly 
unacquainted  with  geology,  the  steam-engine,  the  electric  tele- 
graph, spectrum  analysis,  or  the  dynamic  theory  of  heat.  Without 
these  means  and  appliances,  or  even  an  atom  of  the  spirit  of  which 
they  are  the  fruit,  —  without  any  of  the  enthusiasm  of  modern 
physical  philosophy,  —  statesmen  and  warriors,  heroes,  patriots,  and 
artists,  of  whom  all  ages  are  proud,  have  so  lived  as  to  leave  an 
imperishable  name  behind  them.  Whether  the  age  of  science  will 
produce  grander  results,  has  yet  to  be  proved.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  is  most  reasonable  that  science  too  should,  in  our  day  especially, 
claim  its  proper  place  in  education  as  a  civilizing  agent.  It  may 
point  with  pride  to  what  it  has  done  and  is  doing,  and  may  without 
rebuke  exclaim:  "If  you  need  memorials  of  my  power  and 
influence,  look  around  you ;  the  results  are  everywhere.  Nay 
more,  if,  instead  of  mere  details,  dry  facts,  and  practical  applica- 
tions, you  have  a  taste  for  sublime  speculations  and  theories,  I  can 
furnish  you  with  views  into  the  distant  and  the  past  almost 
unequalled  for  elevation,  range,  and  depth,  and  fraught  with  the 
profoundest  interest  to  the  present  and  all  future  generations." 
We  may  therefore,  without  slavish  humility,  bow  reverentially 
before  both  these  claimants  on  our  homage,  and  denounce  im- 
partially the  zealots  and  fanatics  on  either  side,  —  the  men  who 
audaciously  declare  that  scientific  instruction  is  "  worthless,"  and 


THE  CURRICULUM  OF  MODERN  EDUCATION.     241 

equally  those  who  stigmatize  the  classics  as  "useless,"  —  in  the 
curriculum  of  modern  education. 

In  dealing  with  the  subject  of  my  lecture,  I  propose  in  the  first 
place,  to  consider  generally  the  curriculum  of  modern  education 
for  the  middle  classes,  and  to  discuss  some  of  the  plans  proposed 
for  its  reformation  ;  and  secondly  to  advocate  the  claims  of  clas- 
sical instruction  to  continue  to  hold  the  leading  place  in  it  as  a 
mental  discipline. 

The  object  we  have  in  view  is  to  discuss  the  curriculum  of  mod- 
ern education,  as  far  as  the  middle  classes  of  society  are  concerned 
—  excluding,  on  the  one  hand,  those  whose  instruction  must,  from 
circumstances,  be  limited  to  the  barest  elements  of  learning  ;  and 
those,  on  the  other  hand,  whose  course  is  intended  to  terminate  in 
a  university  career.  The  question  then  is  —  considering  the  age 
in  which  we  live,  with  its  immense  accumulation,  and  wonderful 
applications  of  knowledge  ;  considering  too  that  the  longest  life  is 
too  short  for  securing  for  the  individual  man  any  large  portion  of 
this,  which  constitutes  the  treasury  of  the  race  ;  and  that  the  im- 
mature faculties  of  the  child  can  grasp  only  a  very  limited  portion 
of  that  which  is  ultimately  attained  by  the  man  —  whefher  we  do 
wisely  in  giving  up  any  considerable  portion  of  the  small  space  of 
time  available  for  acquisition,  to  the  attainment  of  a  kind  of 
knowledge  which  appears,  in  comparison  with  scientific  and  gen- 
eral information,  to  be  only  slightly  demanded  by  the  wants  and 
wishes  of  the  age.  If  it  is  necessary,  or  even  important  and  de- 
sirable, that  we  should  all  attempt  to  know  all  things,  this  question 
is  at  once  settled  by  the  exigencies  of  the  case.  Every  moment 
of  the  time  devoted  to  instruction  must,  on  that  assumption,  be 
given  up  to  the  earnest  and  unremitting  pursuit  of  the  "  things  that 
lie  about  in  daily  life  ;"  and  everything  that  impedes  or  interferes 
with  that  pursuit  must  be  regarded  as  impertinent.  It  is,  how- 
ever, perfectly  clear  that  the  attempt  to  force  the  individual  man 
to  keep  up  with  the  intellectual  march  of  the  human  race,  must 
end  in  utter  disappointment ;  and,  moreover,  involves  a  fatal 
misconception  of  the  object  which  all  true  education  should  have 
in  view.  It  cannot  be  too  frequently  repeated,  that  development 
and  training,  and  not  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  however  valu- 
able in  itself,  is  the  true  and  proper  end  of  elementary  education, 
nor  too  strongly  insisted  on,  that  he  who  grasps  too  much  holds 
feebly,  or,  as  the  French  pithily  expresses  it,  qui  trap  embrasse 
mal  6treint.  The  fact  that  there  is  a  vast  store  of  knowledge  in 
the  world  is  no  more  a  reason  why  I  should  acquire  it  all,  than  the 


242  THE   CURRICULUM   OF   MODERN   EDUCATION. 

fact  that  there  is  an  immense  store  of  food  is  a  reason  why  I 
should  eat  it  all.  We  may  mourn  over  the  limitation  of  our 
powers,  but  as  our  fate  in  this  respect  is  quite  inevitable,  it  is  our 
duty,  as  rational  creatures,  to  submit  to  it,  and  to  be  satisfied 
with  doing,  if  not  all  that  we  fondly  wish,  yet  all  that  we  can, 
and,  what  is  more  important,  as  well  as  we  can.  I  cannot  but 
think  that  the  protest  of  the  high-minded  and  conscientious  men 
who  are  in  our  day  aiming  at  the  reform  of  the  school  curriculum, 
would  be  much  more  influential  with  the  public  if  they  would  keep 
closely  to  the  true  issue  in  discussing  this  question.  It  is  most 
desirable,  certainly,  that  there  should  be  a  thorough  reform  ;  but 
it  is  equally  desirable  that  the  reform  should  be  established  on  a 
sound  basis,  and  that  both  parties  should  co-operate  in  arriving 
at  a  wise  decision  on  this  point. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  so  many  of  those  who  have 
handled  the  subject  of  the  curriculum  in  the  interests  of  philan- 
thropy, should  be  disqualified  from  treating  it  judiciously  by  a 
want  of  practical  acquaintance  with  education.  Very  much  at 
their  ease,  they  construct  airy  and  fantastic  theories,  founded  not 
on  what  is  practicable,  but  what  is  desirable ;  recommend  them 
earnestly,  as  if  they  were  the  genuine  fruits  of  experience,  and 
too  frequently  reproach  the  hard-working  teachers,  who,  however 
much  they  may  admire  such  theories,  cannot  by  any  amount  of 
labor  realize  them,  and  therefore  feel  themselves  aggrieved  at 
having  their  actual  educational  product  unfairly  brought  into  com- 
parison with  the  highly  colored  results  promised  by  the  theorist. 
These  writers,  men,  if  you  will,  of  benevolent  hearts,  certainly  of 
lively  imaginations,  evince  far  too  little  sympathy  with  the  actual 
work  of  the  practical  teacher,  with  his  arduous,  long  continued, 
little  appreciated  toils,  his  never-ending  struggle  against  the 
natural  volatility,  ignorance,  dulness,  obstinacy,  and  sometimes 
depravity,  of  his  pupils  ;  and  comprehend  not  the  true  vital  organ- 
ization of  that  "pleasing,  anxious  (professional)  being,"  which 
perhaps,  after  all,  no  earnest  teacher  ever  resigns  without  some 
"longing,  lingering  look  behind." 

Two  leading  principles  seem  to  characterize  most  of  the  theories 
which  have  been,  in  modern  times,  proposed  for  the  reform  of  the 
old  curriculum.  The  first  is,  that  the  curriculum  ought  to  be  con- 
sidered as  a  counterpart  or  reflex  of  the  world  of  knowledge  to 
which  it  is  introductory,  and  that  therefore  the  omne  scibile  of  the 
latter  should  be  represented  in  the  former.  The  other  principle 
seems  to  be,  that  as  men  are  often  found  "  unpracticed,  unpre- 


THE   CURRICULUM    OF   MODERN   EDUCATION.  243 

pared,  and  still  to  seek,"  in  regard  to  the  circumstances  in  which 
they  are  actually  placed  in  life,  we  should  anticipate  this  difficulty 
by  making  children  acquainted  beforehand  with  "the  leading 
kinds  of  activity  which  constitute  human  life" — in  other  words, 
with  all  varieties  of  practical  business.  In  enforcing  both  these 
views,  touching  appeals  ad  misericordiam  are  made  by  their  sup- 
porters, based,  first,  on  the  cruelty  of  withholding  from  the  child 
that  knowledge  of  science  which  has  become  the  inheritance  of  the 
race,  and  which  he  so  much  desires  to  have  ;  and  again,  on  the 
criminal  neglect  of  his  teachers  in  not  securing  him,  by  ample 
knowledge  of  practical  business,  against  the  dangers  into  which, 
from  ignorance  and  inexperience,  he  is  not  only  likely,  but  certain 
to  fall.  The  theory,  then,  stated  in  its  bare  simplicity,  is,  that 
the  boy  is  to  be  provided  by  his  education,  first,  with  all  scientific 
1'iinidedge;  and  secondly,  with  all  practical  knowledge,  as  his 
proper  equipment  for  the  battle  of  life. 

That  I  may  not,  however,  be  suspected  of  misrepresenting  these 
theoretical  views  of  the  curriculum,  1  will  now  endeavor  to 
exhibit  them,  as  taken  from  the  works  in  which  they  are  to  be 
found. 

In  the  first  number  of  the  "Westminster  Review,"  published  in 
1824,  we  find  an  article  mainly  devoted  to  the  explanation  and 
enforcement  of  Mr.  Bentham's  "  Chrestomathia"*  as  a  scheme  of 
instruction  which  (to  use  the  reviewer's  words),  should  "  compre- 
hend the  various  branches  of  education  which  are  spread  over  the 
whole  field  of  knowledge,  giving  to  each  its  due  share  of  importance 
with  a  view  to  the  greatest  possible  sum  of  practical  benefit."  It 
is  curious  to  see  the  course  of  study  proposed  by  Bentham,  and 
which  has  been  extended  by  the  enthusiastic  Mr.  Simpson,  in  his 
work  entitled  "  The  Philosophy  of  Education." 

The  subjects  proposed  for  the  Chrestomathic  curriculum  of  study 
in  the  case  of  boys,  and  girls  too,  "  between  the  ages  of  seven  and 
fourteen,"  are  as  follows  :  — 

Elementary  Arts.  —  Reading,  writing,  arithmetic. 

1st  Stage.  —  Mineralogy,  botany,  zoology,  geography,  geometry 
(definitions  only) ,  history,  chronology,  drawing. 

*  "  Chrestomathi.i :  being  a  Collection  of  Papers  explanatory  of  the  design  of  an  Institution 
proposed  to  be  set  on  foot,  under  the  name  of  the  C  hrewtomathic  Day-Schools,  or  ChrrMo- 
mathic  School,  for  the  Extension  of  the  New  System  of  Instruction  to  the  Higher  Branches 
of  Learning,  for  the  use  of  the  Middling  and  Higher  Hanks  of  Life."  By  Jeremy  Bcntham, 
Esq.  London:  1816. 


244  THE   CURRICULUM  OF  MODERN   EDUCATION. 

2d  Stage.  —  Same  subjects,  with   mechanics,  hydrostatics,  hy- 
draulics, pneumatics,  acoustics,  optics. 
Chemistry,  mineral,  vegetable,  animal. 
Meteorology,  magnetism,  electricity,  galvanism,  balistics. 
Archaeology,  statistics. 

English,  Latin,  Greek,  French,  and  German  grammars. 
3d  Stage.  —  Subjects  of  previous  stages,  and  mining,  geology, 
land-surveying,    architecture,    husbandry,    including    the 
theory  of  vegetation  and  gardening. 

Physical  economics  —  i.  e.,  the  application  of  mechanics  and 
chemistry  to  domestic  management,  involving  "  maximiza- 
tion of  bodily  comfort  in  all  its  shapes,  minimization  of 
bodily  discomfort  in  all  its  shapes,"  biography. 
4th  Stage.  —  Hygiastics  (art  of  preserving  and  restoring  health) , 
comprising  physiology,  anatomy,  pathology,  nosology,  die- 
tetics, materia  medica,  prophylactics   (art  of  warding  off 
evils),   surgery,  therapeutics,  zohygiastics   (art  of  taking 
care  of  animals). 
Phthisozoics    (art   of    destroying   noxious    animals :    vermin 

killing,  ratcatching,  &c.). 

5th  Stage.  —  Geometry  (with  demonstrations)  ,•  algebra,  mathe- 
matical geography,  astronomy. 
Technology,  or  arts  and  manufactures  in  general. 
Book-keeping,  or  the  art  of  registration  or  recordatiou. 
Commercial  book-keeping. 
Note-taking. 

Such  is  the  scheme  of  the  Chrestomathia,  which  designedly 
omits  (as  Mr.  Bentham  tells  us)  gymnastic  exercises,  fine  arts, 
applications  of  mechanics  and  chemistry,  belles  lettres,  and  moral 
arts  and  sciences.  These  are  omitted  on  various  grounds,  which  I 
have  no  time  to  specify,  except  to  mention  one,  which  might  indeed 
have  very  suitably  excluded  five-sixths  at  least  of  those  enumerated 
—  "time  of  life  too  early." 

Mr.  Simpson,  approving  of  the  whole  of  the  above  curriculum, 
thought  it  still  incomplete,  and  therefore  introduced  the  depart- 
ment of  Moral  Science,  omitted  by  Bentham,  as  a 
6th  Stage.  —  History,  government,  commerce. 
Political  economy. 
Philosophy  of  the  human  mind. 

Risum  teneatis,  amid  !  Was  anything  more  extraordinary  ever 
proposed  in  the  whole  history  of  man?  This  imposing  display  of 
the  triumphs  of  the  entire  human  race  is  actually  presented  as  a 


THE  CURRICULUM  OF  MODERN  EDUCATION.     245 

curriculum  of  study  for  children  between  seven  and  fourteen  years 
of  age! 

Such  is  the  scheme  lauded  by  a  writer  who  complains  that 
"  hitherto  the  education  proper  for  civil  and  active  life  has  been 
neglected,  and  nothing  has  been  done  to  enable  those  who  are  to 
conduct  the  affairs  of  the  world  to  carry  them  on  in  a  manner 
worthy  of  the  age  and  country  in  which  they  live,  by  communi- 
cating to  them  the  knowledge  and  the  spirit  of  their  age  and 
country."  This  is  the  panacea,  then,  proposed  by  the  Chresto- 
mathic  school  for  the  cure  of  the  educational  maladies  of  the  day. 
Education,  according  to  this  view,  is  to  consist  in  the  administra- 
tion of  infinitesimal  doses  of  knowledge :  a  little  drop  of  this,  a 
pinch  of  that,  an  atom  of  the  third  article,  and  so  on ;  the  names 
and  technicalities  of  a  great  range  of  subjects,  and  mastery  and 
power  over  none.  Comment  on  such  a  scheme  is  unnecessary. 
It  condemns  itself,  as  a  method  of  teaching  superficialit}'  and  sciol- 
ism on  system.  Is  there  any  connection  between  such  a  course 
and  the  "  complete  and  generous  education  "  (these  are  Milton's 
words)  that  "  fits  a  man  to  perform  justly,  skilfully,  and  magnani- 
mously all  the  offices,  both  private  and  public,  of  peace  and 
war"  ?  Are  we  not  rather  injuring  than  aiding  true  mental  de- 
velopment, and  perhaps  moral  too,  by  pretending  to  teach  the 
sciences  when  all  the  while  we  are  teaching  little  but  their  names? 
Is  such  a  scheme  as  this  to  supersede  the  sound  instruction  and 
invigorating  discipline  of  the  old  school?  Is  this  the  desideratum 
so  eagerly  looked  for  as  a  means  of  producing  men  capable  of 
carrying  on  the  affairs  of  the  world  in  "  a  manner  worthy  of  the 
age  and  country  in  which  we  live  "  ?  I  quite  agree  with  the  most 
advanced  of  the  reformers  in  question  as  to  the  need  of  reform  ; 
but  I  hope  the}*  will  agree  with  me  that  this  is  not  the  direction  in 
which  it  is  to  be  promoted,  and  that  if  the  new  crusade  is  to  be 
successful  in  its  objects,  Messrs.  Bentham  and  Simpson  must  not 
be  permitted  to  head  the  movement. 

Another  theoretical  writer  on  modern  education  is  Mr.  Herbert 
Spencer,  who,  in  his  work  entitled  "  Education,  Intellectual, 
Moral,  and  Physical,"  has  presented  us  with  a  scheme  —  evolved 
apparently  out  of  the  depths  of  his  own  consciousness ;  for  he 
does  not  profess  to  have  any  practical  experience  as  a  teacher  or 
schoolmaster  —  so  ingenious,  and  pretty,  and  complete,  that  one 
can  only  sigh  over  the  limited  capacity  of  human  nature,  which 
will,  it  is  to  be  feared,  forever  prevent  its  being  realized.  While 
agreeing  for  the  most  part  with  Mr.  Bentham,  that  a  child  can 


246  THE   CURKICULUM  OP   MODERN   EDUCATION. 

and  ought  to  learn  —  at  least  what  he  calls  learning —  an  immense 
number  of  subjects,  he  insists  with  great  earnestness  upon  the 
principle  (which,  if  rightly  interpreted,  no  one  questions),  that 
education  should  prepare  the  pupil  for  the  duties  of  life  ;  or,  as  he 
styles  it,  for  "the  right  ruliug  of  conduct  in  all  directions,  and 
under  all  circumstances."  This,  as  he  remarks,  —  and  everyone 
will  agree  with  him,  —  is  the  "general  problem,  which  compre- 
hends every  special  problem  ;  "  and  he  goes  on  further  to  tell  us, 
that  the  solution  of  it  involves  our  knowing  "  in  what  way  to  treat 
the  body  ;  in  what  way  to  treat  the  mind  ;  in  what  way  to  manage 
our  affairs  ;  in  what  way  to  bring  up  a  family ;  in  what  way  to  be- 
have as  a  citizen  ;  and  in  what  way  to  utilize  those  sources  of 
happiness  which  nature  supplies ;  how  to  use  our  faculties  to  the 
greatest  advantage  of  ourselves  and  others ;  how  to  live  com- 
pletely. And  this  being  the  great  thing  needful  for  us  to  learn,  is 
by  consequence  the  great  thing  which  education  has  to  teach." 

This  is  an  epitome  of  Mr.  Spencer's  views  on  the  curriculum, 
and  it  appears  to  be  impossible  to  satisfy  the  conditions  of  his 
theory  *by  anything  short  of  special  preparation  for  all  the  contin- 
gencies of  life.  My  limits  will  not  allow  of  a  close  investigation 
of  arguments  and  illustrations,  spread  over  nearly  sixty  pages  of 
his  book  ;  but  a  practical  schoolmaster  has  surely  some  right  to 
inquire,  whether  he  is  serious  in  adducing,  as  evidences  of  defect 
in  the  school  curriculum,  numerous  instances  of  persons  injuring 
their  eyesight  by  over-studying,  and  their  limbs  by  over-exercise ; 
of  others  suffering  "from  heart-disease,  consequent  on  a  rheu- 
matic fever  that  followed  reckless  exposure  ;  "  and  again,  of  "  the 
engineer  who  misapplies  his  formulae  for  the  strength  of  materials, 
and  builds  a  bridge  that  breaks  down  ;  "  of  the  shipbuilder  who, 
"  by  adhering  to  the  old  model,  is  outsailed  by  one  who  builds  on 
the  mechanically-justified  wave-line  principle  ;  of  the  bleacher, 
the  dyer,  the  sugar-refiner,  the  farmer,  who  fail  more  or  less  be- 
cause unacquainted  with  chemistry ;  and  notably  of  the  mining 
speculators,  who  ruin  themselves  from  ignorance  of  geology  ;  and 
the  constructors  of  electro-magnetic  engines,  "  whp  might  have 
had  better  balances  at  their  bankers,"  if  they  had  understood 
"the  general  law  of  the  correlation,  and  equivalence  of  forces." 
Are  all  these  sad  delinquencies,  and  many  more,  recounted  with  ter- 
rible accuracy  by  Mr.  Spencer,  fairly  to  be  laid  to  lack  of  service 
and  duty  and  sense  in  the  schoolmaster?  Ought  the  elementary 
schoolmaster  —  that  is  the  real  question  —  to  have  furnished 
all  his  pupils  of  from  seven  to  fourteen  years  of  age  with  the 


THE   CURRICULUM  OF   MODERN   EDUCATION.  247 

knowledge,  and  judgment,  and  common  sense,  and  experience, 
which  are  the  proper  safeguards  against  the  failures  I  have 
enumerated  ?  I  answer  distinctly,  that  he  is  not  responsible  ;  and 
I  might  say  this  much  more  strongly,  but  that  I  respect  Mr. 
Spencer's  earnestness  and  true  sincerity  of  purpose.  But  Mr. 
Spencer,  who  is  no  schoolmaster  himself,  having,  it  would  appear,  a 
most  exalted  opinion  of  the  omnipotent  and  omniscient  faculties  of 
that  functionary,  demands  still  something  more  of  him,  and  regarding 
it  "  as  an  astonishing  fact,  that  not  one  word  of  instruction  on  the 
treatment  of  offspring  is  ever  given  to  those  who  will  by-and-by 
be  parents,"  that  is,  given  by  the  schoolmaster,  lays  that  obliga- 
tion also  upon  him.  Here  too,  it  appears  to  me,  the  practical 
schoolmaster  has  a  right  to  ask,  very  specifically,  what  kind  of  in- 
formation "on  the  treatment  of  offspring"  Mr.  Spencer  would 
himself  propose  to  give,  as  a  sort  of  model  school  lesson,  to  a 
child  of  twelve  or  fourteen  years  of  age  ?  The  child  is,  to  be  sure, 
in  a  certain  sense,  "  the  father  of  the  man, "but  it  is  coming  down 
rather  sharply  upon  him  to  apply  this  literally,  and  make  him  leave 
his  tops  and  balls  so  early  in  life,  and  set  about  this  unseasonable 
preparation  for  the  duties  of  paternitj'. 

The  general  conclusion,  then,  ffom  our  review  of  Mr.  Spencer's 
theory  is,  that  its  due  satisfaction  involves  the  assumption  that 
every  man  is  to  be  his  own  doctor,  lawyer,  architect,  bailiff,  tailor, 
and,  I  suppose,  —  clergymen;  so  that  the  Chrestomathic  scheme 
which  required  the  child  to  learn  the  omne  scibile,  is  supplemented, 
as  not  being  comprehensive  enough,  by  Mr.  Spencer's,  for  learning 
also  the  omne  facibile  ;*  and  both  must,  I  fear,  be  condemned,  not 
only  as  being  utterly  impracticable,  (though  that  might  be  a  suf- 
ficient objection,)  but  as  being  based  on  a  total  misconception  of 
what  elementary  education  ought  to  be.f 

The  fact  is,  that  however  captivating  to  the  imagination  the 
idea  may  be  of  communicating  to  our  pupil  those  immense  stores 
of  knowledge,  the  possession  of  which  distinguishes  the  present 
from  all  previous  ages,  it  is  one  which,  when  brought  to  the  test  of 
experience,  proves  utterly  illusory.  A  higher  power  than  that  of 
either  the  theoretical  educationist,  or  the  practical  schoolmaster, 
has  ordained  that  into  the  kingdom  of  knowledge,  as  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  we  must  enter  as  little  children.  We  must 
begin  at  the  beginning,  and  learn  the  prima  elementa  each  for 

*  Tlu«  phrase  is,  I  am  aware,  non-classical.    It  is,  however,  to  be  found  In  Ducange. 
f  Si-u  Appendix,  Note  A. 


248     THE  CUKKICULUM  OF  MODERN  EDUCATION. 

himself,  as  all  children  before  us  have  done,  gaining  little  advan- 
tage as  individuals  from  the  achievements  which  science  has  effected 
for  our  race.  We  find,  too,  that  if,  from  a  desire  to  spare  our  pupil 
the  labor  of  learning  fact  after  fact  in  apparently  endless  succes- 
sion, we  frame  compendious  formulae,  rules,  and  general  principles, 
founded  on  other  men's  mental  experience,  and  endeavor  to  feed 
his  mind  with  them,  they  prove,  in  the  early  stage  Of  instruction, 
utterly  indigestible,  and  minister  no  proper  nourishment  for  him. 
Mr.  Spencer,  in  another  part  of  his  book,  justly  remarks:  "To 
give  the  net  product  of  inquiry,  without  the  inquiry  that  leads  to 
it,  is  found  to  be  both  inefficient  and  enervating.  General  truths, 
to  be  of  due  and  permanent  use,  must  be  earned." 

The  same  principle  would  seem  to  decide  the  question  of  special 
preparation.  The  experience  of  those  who  have  gone  before  us 
cannot  supersede  our  own  ;  and  no  conceivable  improvement,  there- 
fore, in  the  curriculum  will  ever  provide  for  "  the  right  ruling  of 
conduct  in  all  directions,  under  all  circumstances;"  or,  in  other 
words,  furnish  a  child  beforehand  with  the  mental  and  moral 
powers  which  are  to  be  developed  in  the  actual  life  of  the  man. 
It  is  by  living  that  we  learn  to  live. 

I  have  already  suggested,  that  development  and  training,  not 
the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  however  valuable  in  itself,  is  the  true 
and  proper  end  of  elementary  education.  In  a  general  way  it  may 
be  asserted  that  the  former  is  the  main  tenet  of  the  old  or  con- 
servative, the  latter  of  the  new  or  reforming  school.  We  shall  have 
to  dwell  at  some  length  on  this  point,  that  we  may  be  prepared  to 
recognize  the  respective  claims  of  various  subjects  to  be  admitted 
into  the  curriculum.  It  is  perfectly  true  that  neither  view  of 
necessity  excludes  the  other.  Any  subject,  however  suitable  in 
itself  for  the  discipline  of  the  pupil,  may  be  so  taught  as  to  involve 
no  good  training  ;  and  a  subject  presumptively  unsuitable  may,  by 
the  skill  of  the  teacher,  be  made  to  yield  the  happiest  fruits.  Still 
the  prominence  given  to  these  respective  features  in  theory  must 
materially  affect  the  practice  founded  on  them.  I  need  not  re(er  to 
the  very  etymology  of  the  word  "  education  "  to  support  the  more 
old-fashioned  view  of  the  case.  All  will  allow  that  it  means  train- 
ing or  development;  but  I  would  dwell  for  a  moment  on  the 
meaning  of  the  cognate  term  "  instruction,"  in  support  of  the  same 
argument,  and  also  to  show  that  a  real  and  judicious  teaching  of 
science,  not  a  random  gathering  together  of  scraps  of  "  useful 
knowledge,"  does  indeed  involve  a  genuine  discipline  of  the  mind. 
The  original  meaning  of  instruere  is  to  heap  up,  or  pile  up,  or  put 


THE  CURRICULUM  OF  MODERN  EDUCATION. 

together  in  a  heap  generally,  and  seems  somewhat  to  countenance 
the  Chrestomathic  notion  ;  but  the  secondary  meaning,  and  that 
with  which  we  are  more  concerned,  is  to  "  put  together  in  order,  to 
build  or  construct ;  "  so  that  instruction  is  the  orderly  arrangement 
and  disposition  of  knowledge,  a  branch  of  mental  discipline  which 
all  must  acknowledge  to  be  of  great  importance  and  value.  But 
heaping  bricks  together,  and  building  a  house  with  them,  are  two 
very  different  things.  The  orderly  arrangement  of  facts  in  the 
mind  implies  a  knowledge  of  their  relation  to  each  other ;  and,  if 
carried  out  to  a  certain  extent,  furnishes  the  ground-work  for  the 
establishment  of  those  general  laws  which  constitute  what  is 
properly  called  science.  The  knowledge,  however,  of  these  mutual 
relations  is  gained  by  quiet,  earnest  brooding  over  facts,  viewing 
them  in  every  kind  of  light,  comparing  them  carefully  together 
for  the  detection  of  resemblances  and  differences,  classifying  them, 
experimenting  upon  them,  and  so  on.  Allowing,  then,  to  science, 
properly  so  called,  all  that  can  be  claimed  for  it  as  a  constituent  of 
the  curriculum — and  of  its  immense  value  in  education  I  shall  have 
to  speak  presently  —  we  must  explode,  definitely  and  finalh-,  the 
notion  that  these  valuable  results  can  be  elicited  by  frittering  away 
the  powers  of  the  mind  on  a  great  variety  of  subjects.  Nor  must 
we  be  led  away  by  the  frequently  meaningless  clamor  for  "  useful 
knowledge."  Knowledge  which  may  be  unquestionably  useful  to 
some  persons  may  not  be  useful  at  all  to  others  ;  therefore,  although 
education  is  to  be  a  preparation  for  after  life,  yet  it  is  to  be  a 
general,  not  a  professional,  preparation,  and  cannot  provide  for 
minute  and  special  contingencies.  The  object  of  education  is  to 
form  the  man,  not  the  baker  —  the  man,  not  the  lawyer  —  the 
man,  not  the  civil  engineer. 

What  then,  we  may  now  inquire,  should  be  the  main  features 
of  a  training,  as  distinguished  from  an  accumulating,  system 
of  instruction?  It  should,  I  conceive,  aim  at  quickening  and 
strengthening  the  powers  of  observation  and  memory,  and  forming 
habits  of  careful  and  persevering  attention  ;  it  should  habituate  the 
pupil  to  distinguish  points  of  difference  and  recognize  those  of 
resemblance,  to  analyze  and  investigate,  to  arrange  and  classify. 
It  should  awaken  and  invigorate  the  understanding,  mature  the 
reason,  chasten  while  it  kindles  the  imagination,  exercise  the 
judgment  and  refine  the  taste.  It  should  cultivate  habits  of  order 
and  precision,  and  of  spontaneous,  independent,  and  long  continued 
application.  It  should,  in  short,  be  a  species  of  mental  gymnastics, 


250  THE  CURRICULUM   OF   MODERN   EDUCATION. 

fitted  to  draw  forth,  exercise,  invigorate,  and  mature  all  the 
faculties,  so  as  to  exhibit  them  in  that  harmonious  combination 
which  is  at  once  the  index  and  the  result  of  manly  growth.  In 
order  to  gain  the  ends  I  have  specified,  or  indeed  any  considerable 
number  of  them,  it  is  essential  that  the  studies  embraced  in  the 
training  course  should  be  few.  We  cannot  hope  to  have,  in  the 
early  stage  of  life,  both  quantity  and  quality.  In  giving  a  preference 
to  the  latter,  we  do  but  consult  the  exigencies  of  the  case.  At  the 
same  time,  it  may  be  hoped  that,  because  the  aim  is  to  enrich  and 
prepare  the  soil,  the  ultimate  harvest  will  be  proportionately 
bountiful.* 

I  have  said  that  the  subjects  to  be  studied  in  the  training  course 
should  be  few.  But  I  proceed  further,  and  maintain  that  for  the 
purpose  of  real  discipline  it  is  advisable  —  nay,  even  necessary — to 
concentrate  the  energies  for  a  long  period  together  on  some  one 
general  subject,  and  make  that  for  a  time  the  leading  feature,  the 
central  study  of  the  course  —  keeping  others  in  subordination  to  it. 
By  giving  this  degree  of  prominence  to  some  particular  branch  of 
instruction,  we  may  hope  to  have  it  studied  to  such  an  extent,  so 
closely,  so  accurately,  so  soundly,  so  completely,  that  it  may  become 
a  real  possession  to  the  pupil  —  a  source  of  vital  power,  which  the 
mind  "  will  not  willingly  let  die."  The  concentration  of  mind  and 
range  of  research  necessary  for  this  purpose  obviously  involve  many 
of  the  advantages  I  have  recently  enumerated.  In  this  way,  too, 
the  pupil  will  become  fully  conscious  of  the  difference  between 
"knowing  a  thing  and  knowing  something  about  lY,  and  will  be  forcibly 
impressed  with  the  superiority  of  the  former  kind  of  knowledge. 
This  conviction  is  of  no  small  importance  ;  for  it  gives  him  a  clear, 
experimental  appreciation  of  the  agency  —  the  measure  and  kind  of 
intellectual  effort  —  by  which  the  complete  and  accurate  knowledge 
was  gained,  and  thus  can  hardly  fail  to  exercise  a  valuable  influence 
upon  his  character.  He  who  has  learned  by  experience  the  diffi- 
culty of  obtaining  a  thorough  mastery  of  a  subject,  has  made  no 
trifling  advance  in  the  knowledge  of  himself.  He  has  tested  his 
power  of  struggling  with  difficulties,  and  acquired  in  the  contest 
that  command  over  his  faculties,  and  that  habit  of  sustained  and 
vigorous  application,  which  will  ensure  success  in  any  undertaking. 
He  who  has  only  begun  a  study,  or  advanced  but  little  in  it,  is  a 

*  The  opinion  of  Locke  confirms  this  view.  His  -words  are :  "  The  business  of  education 
Is  not,  as  I  think,  to  perfect  the  learner  in  any  of  the  sciences,  but  to  give  his  mind  that  freedom 
and  disposition,  und  those  habits  which  may  enable  him  to  attain  every  part  of  knowledge 
himself."  (Some  Thoughts  concerning  Education.) 


THE  CURRICULUM  OF  MODERN  EDUCATION.     251 

stranger  to  that  consciousness  of  strength  and  range  of  mental 
vision  which  are  involved  in  the  cultivation  of  it  to  a  high  point. 
The  knowledge,  thus  thoroughly  acquired  and  possessed  as  a 
familiar  instrument  by  the  pupil,  becomes  not  only  a  powerful 
auxiliary  to  his  further  attaiumeuts,  but  a  high  standard  to  which 
he  may  continually  refer  them.* 

One  of  the  chief  reasons  why  the  study  of  one  thing,  one 
subject,  or  one  book,  is  so  valuable  a  discipline,  is  that  the  matter 
thus  submitted  to  the  mind's  action  forms  a  whole,  and  by  degrees 
reacts  on  the  mind  itself,  and  creates  within  it  the  idea  of  unity 
and  harmony.  Suppose,  for  instance,  that  we  read  a  book  with  the 
view  of  thoroughly  studying  and  mastering  it.  We  find,  as  a  con- 
sequence of  the  unity  of  thought  and  expression  pervading  it,  that 
one  part  explains  another,  that  what  is  hinted  at  in  one  page  is 
amplified  in  the  next,  that  the  matter  of  the  first  few  sentences  is 
the  nucleus  (the  oak  in  the  acorn,  as  it  were)  of  the  entire  work. 
Thus  the  beginning  of  the  book  throws  light  upon  the  end,  which 
the  end  in  its  turn  reflects  upon  the  beginning.  He  who  studies  in 
this  way  must  carefully  weigh  each  word,  and  estimate  its  value  in 
the  sentence  of  which  it  is  a  part,  and  its  bearing  on  those  which 
have  preceded  it ;  he  must  also  keep  it  in  recollection,  that  he  may 
observe  its  connection  with  what  follows.  When  he  encounters 
difficulties  which  he  cannot  at  the  moment  solve,  he  must  retain 
them  in  mind  until  the  clue  to  their  solution  is  gained.  He  must 
often  retrace  his  steps  with  the  experience  he  has  acquired  in  ad- 
vancing, and  then  advance  again  with  the  added  knowledge  gained 
in  his  retrogression.  It  is  only  by  thus  wrestling  —  agonizing,  as  it 
were  —  with  a  subject,  that  we  eventually  subdue  it,  and  make  it 
ours,  and  a  part  of  us.  By  such  or  analogous  processes,  constantly 
and  patiently  pursued,  we  rise  at  last  to  the  highest  generalizations  ; 
so  that  a  knowledge  of  the  phenomena  of  the  material  world  is 

*  The  above  argument  is  powerfully  confirmed  In  the  following  passage  from  an  "  Intro- 
ductory Lecture "  by  Professor  De  Morgan,  delivered  at  University  College,  October  17, 
1837:  — 

"  When  the  student  has  occupied  his  time  In  learning  a  moderate  portion  of  many  different 
things,  what  hn*  he  acquired  — extensive  knowledge  or  useful  habiu?  Kven  if  lie  can  be 
said  to  hnve  varied  learning,  it  will  not  long  be  true  of  him,  for  nothing  flics  so  quickly  n» 
half-digested  knowledge;  and  when  this  Is  gone,  there  remains  but  a  slender  portion  of  uoeful 
power.  A  small  quantity  of  learning  quickly  evaporates  from  a  mind  which  never  held  any 
learning,  except  in  small  quantities;  and  the  Intellectual  philosopher  can  perhaps  explain  the 
following  phenomenon:  —  that  men  who  have  given  deep  attention  to  one  or  more  lil>ernl 
studies,  can  learn  to  the  end  of  their  lives,  and  nre  able  to  retain  and  apply  very  small  quanti- 
ties of  other  kinds  of  knowledge ;  while  those  who  have  never  learnt  much  of  any  one  thing 
seldom  acquire  new  knowledge  after  they  attain  to  years  of  maturity,  and  frequently  lose  the 
the  greater  part  of  that  which  they  once  possessed."  (p.  12.) 


252  THE   CURRICULUM   OF   MODERN   EDUCATION. 

digested  into  Science,  a  knowledge  of  the  facts  and  matter  of 
language  is  elaborated  into  Learning,  and  a  knowledge  and  inti- 
mate appreciation  of  the  facts  of  human  life  ripens  into  Wisdom. 
Everyone  will  bear  me  out  in  the  remark,  that  it  is  from  those  few 
books  that  we  read  most  carefully  —  that  we  "  chew  and  digest," 
to  use  Bacon's  words  —  that  we  peruse  again  and  again  with  still 
increasing  interest —  that  we  take  to  our  bosom  as  friends  and 
counsellors  ;  it  is  from  these  that  we  are  conscious  of  deriving  real 
nourishment  for  the  mind.  Nor  is  it  perhaps  rash  to  assert  that 
the  general  tendency,  in  our  day,  to  dissipate  the  attention  on  all 
sorts  of  books,  on  all  sorts  of  subjects,  which  just  flash  before  the 
mind,  excite  it  for  a  moment,  leave  a  vague  impression,  and  are 
gone,  is  stamping  a  character  upon  the  age  which  will  render 
nugatory  the  well-meant  efforts  which  have  of  late  been  made  for 
the  enlightenment  of  the  popular  mind,  and  the  extension  of  useful 
knowledge.  It  is,  I  say,  characteristic  of  the  age,  that  we  emascu- 
late and  enfeeble  our  powers  by  the  vain  attempt  to  know  everything 
which  everybody  else  knows;  and  learn,  in  conformity  to  the  fashion 
of  the  times,  even  to  feel  it  as  a  reproach  that  we  have  not  "  dipped 
into,"  or  "skimmed  over,"  or  "  glanced  at"  (very  significant 
phrases)  all  the  articles  in  all  the  newspapers,  magazines,  and 
reviews  of  the  day.  We  indolently  allow  ourselves  to  be  carried  on, 
in  spite  of  our  silent  protest,  against  our  real  convictions,  with  the 
shallow  tide  which  is  sweeping  over  the  land  ;  and,  inasmuch  as  we 
do  so,  are  neutralizing  the  real  interests  of  the  cause  we  profess 
to  be  advocating,  and  preventing  the  formation  of  valuable  and 
useful  judgments  on  any  subject  whatever.  If  you  consider  with 
me  that  this  general  dissipation  is  an  evil,  you  will  also  sym- 
pathize with  the  desire  to  prevent  the  organization  and  establish- 
ment of  the  principle  in  the  curriculum  of  elementary  education. 
A  thousand  times  better,  in  my  opinion,  to  have  the  old  hum- 
drum monotony,  the  ceaseless  drill,  which  ended  only  in  preparing 
the  faculties  to  work  to  some  purpose,  when  they  did  work  on 
the  problems  of  life,  than  the  counterfeit  knowledge  which  can 
give  an  opinion  on  every  subject  because  substantially  uninformed 
on  any. 

It  is  not,  perhaps,  too  much  to  assert,  that  concentration  of 
mind  on  a  few  subjects  is,  and  ever  has  been,  the  only  passport  to 
excellence.  All  the  great  literary  and  scientific  men  of  all  ages, 
whose  opinions  we  value,  whose  judgments  are  received  as  the 
dictates  of  wisdom  and  authority,  have  acted  on  the  conviction,  that 


THE  CURRICULUM  OF  MODERN  EDUCATION.     253 

the  powers  of  the  mind  are  strengthened  by  concentration,  and 
weakened  by  dissipation.* 

The  practical  inference  from  the  foregoing  remarks  is,  that  in 
order  to  train  the  mind  usefully,  concentration,  and  not  accumula- 
tion, must  be  our  guiding  principle ;  in  other  words,  we  must 
direct  the  most  strenuous  efforts  of  our  pupils  to  the  complete  and 
full  comprehension  of  some  one  subject  as  an  iustrument  of  intel- 
lectual discipline. 

The  next  consideration,  then,  is,  what  the  subject  submitted  to 
this  accurate  and  complete  study  ought  to  be.  And  here  we  come 
again  nearly  to  the  point  at  which  we  set  out,  and  must  now  for 
ourselves  renew  the  friendly  strife  between  the  "trivials"  and 
the  "  quadrivials "  once  more.  I  say  "friendly,"  because  the 
claims  of  both  are  so  reasonable,  that  it  really  ought  not  to  be 
very  difficult  to  adjust  them,  and  no  angry  feeling  therefore  ought 
to  accompany  the  discussion.  We  have  left  the  theorists  behind, 
and  are  now  to  settle  such  questions  as  practical  and  experienced 
men,  with  reference  to  their  real  merits,  judiciously,  and  with  some 
degree  of  authority. 

On  the  general  subject  of  the  curriculum,  I  will  quote  some 
remarks  which  I  have  lately  met  with  in  a  pamphlet  by  an  able 
American  writer,  apparently  acquainted  by  experience  with  his 
subject,  f  He  is  strongly  opposed  to  what  we  usually  call  the 
Classical  System,  but  candidly  admits  that  its  defenders  have 
hitherto  had  greatly  the  advantage  of  their  opponents  in  the  line 
of  argument  they  have  pursued.  "  Disagree  with  them,"  he  says, 
"as  you  may  as  to  what  studies  go  to  make  up  a  liberal  educa- 

*  See  some  very  interesting  illustrations  in  Disraeli's  "Curiosities  of  Literature,"  in  the 
essay  entitled,  "  The  Man  of  One  Book."  To  these  may  be  added,  as  an  Instructive,  though 
somewhat  extravagant  specimen  of  the  non-mnlta atd-mnltum  principle  advocated  in  the  text, 
the  following  taken  from  the  "  Foreign  Quarterly  Ilevlew"  for  1841 :  — 

"  I'orpora,  an  Italian  teacher  of  music,  having  conceived  an  affection  for  one  of  his  pupils, 
asked  him  if  he  hud  courage  to  pursue  indcfatigably  a  course  which  he  would  point  out,  how- 
ever tiresome  it  might  appear.  Upon  receiving  an  answer  In  the  affirmative,  he  noted  upon  a 
page  of  ruli-d  paper,  the  diatonic  and  chromatic  scales,  ascending  and  descending  with  leaps 
of  a  third,  fourth,  &c.,  to  acquire  the  Intervals  promptly,  with  shakes,  turns,  appoutfaturc, 
and  various  pasungea  of  vocalization.  This  leaf  employed  master  and  pupil  for  a  year;  the 
following  year  was  bestowed  upon  it;  the  third  year  thc-rc  was  no  talk  of  changing  It;  the 
pupil  began  to  murmur,  hut  was  reminded  of  his  promise.  A  fourth  year  elapsed,  then  a 
fifth,  and  every  day  came  the  eternal  leaf.  At  the  sixth  It  was  not  done  with,  but  lessons  of 
articulation,  pronunciation,  and  declamation  were  added  to  the  practice.  At  the  end  of  this 
year,  howe'-cr,  the  scholar,  who  still  Imagined  that  he  was  but  at  the  elements,  wns  much 
surprised  when  his  master  exclaimed,  'Go,  my  son;  thou  hast  nothing  more  to  learn;  thou 
art  the  first  singer  of  Italy,  and  of  the  world.'  He  said  true.  This  singer  was  Caffarelll." 

f  "Classical  and  Scientific  Studies,  and  the  Great  Schools  of  England."  By  W.  P. 
Atkinson,  Cambridge  (U.S.),  1865. 


254  THE  CURRICULUM   OF   MODERN   EDUCATION. 

tion,  you  must  go  to  them  fora  true  definition  of  that  training  of 
miud  in  which  a  liberal  education  consists."  As  he  is  one  of  the 
ablest  advocates  of  the  claims  of  Science,  we  may  listen  to  what 
he  says  on  ita  behalf  as  a  part  of  school  education.  He  assumes, 
then,  as  axioms  these  following  propositions  :  — 

"  1.  That  in  the  Science  and  Art  of  education  we  must  study 
and  follow  Nature,  —  that  we  shall  only  be  successful  as  far  as  we 
do. 

"2.  That  there  is  a  certain  natural  order  in  the  development 
of  the  human  faculties ;  and  that  a  true  system  of  education  will 
follow,  not  run  counter  to,  that  order. 

"3.  That  we  may  divide  the  faculties  of  the  mind,  for  the 
purposes  of  education,  into  observing  and  reflective ;  and  that 
in  the  order  cf  development  the  observing  faculties  come  first. 

"  4.  That  individual  minds  come  into  the  world  with  individual 
characteristics ;  often,  in  the  case  of  superior  minds,  strongly 
marked,  and  qualifying  them  for  the  more  successful  pursuit  of 
some  one  career,  than  of  any  other.  " 

"  5.  That  the  study  of  the  material  world  may  be  said  to  be 
the  divinely  appointed  instrument  for  the  cultivation  and  develop- 
ment of  the  observing  faculties  ;  while  the  study  of  the  immaterial 
mind,  with  all  that  belongs  to  it,  including  the  study  of  language 
as  the  instrument  of  thought,  is  the  chief  agent  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  reflective  faculties." 

Speaking  in  the  interests  of  that  reform  in  the  curriculum 
which  is  very  decidedly  needed,  I  would  frankly  accept  these 
propositions,  though  the  terms  of  some  of  them,  especially  those 
of  the  fourth  and  fifth,  might  give  a  caviller  a  favorable  oppor- 
tunity. Of  one  point  essentially  involved  in  them,  I  have  no 
doubt ;  and  that  is,  that  any  rational  curriculum  of  elementary 
study  must  be  based  on  the  fact  that  the  observing,  are  called 
into  action  before  the  reflecting,  faculties ;  in  other  words,  that 
the  food  must  be  swallowed  before  it  is  digested  ;  though  I  believe 
it  to  be  an  educational  fallacy  to  maintain  that  therefore  no  food 
should  be  swallowed  that  cannot  be  instantly  digested.  The  gen- 
eral consideration  would,  however,  seem  to  justify  us  in  carrying 
forward,  before  anything  else  is  attempted,  the  instruction  which 
the  child  has  already  commenced  for  himself,  in  the  study  of  the 
phenomena  of  the  external  world  and  in  thafof  the  mother  tongue. 
Professor  Tyndall  has  shown,  in  his  interesting  lecture  on  the 
study  of  Physics,  that  even  the  new-born  babe  is  an  experimental 
philosopher,  and  improvizes  by  instinct  a  suction-pump  to  supply 


THE   CURRICULUM   OF   MODERN  EDUCATION.  255 

himself  with  his  natural  food,  and  day  after  day,  by  experiment 
and  observation,  makes  himself  acquainted  with  the  ordinary 
properties  of  matter,  acquires  the  idea  of  distance,  sound,  and 
gravitation,  and  so  on,  and  by  burning  his  fingers,  and  scalding  his 
torgne,  learns  also  the  conditions  of  his  physical  well-being.  In 
this  hand-to-mouth  way  the  pupil  in  the  great  school  of  nature 
Levins  his  lessons,  and  surely  it  is  most  natural  that  he  should  be 
encouraged  to  continue  this  self -education,  and  under  judicious 
guidance,  he  may  very  properly  be  made  acquainted  with  the 
things  "  which  lie  about  in  daiby  life,"  and  also  be  trained  to  the 
study  of  that  proper  connection  between  things  and  words  which 
is  the  true  basis  of  a  good  knowledge  of  his  own  language.  Such 
a  course  of  instruction,  such  "  lessons  on  objects,"  will  no  doubt 
amuse  and  interest  the  young  natural  philosopher,  and  may  be  the 
means  of  eliciting  even  quite  earl}'  in  life,  those  predilections  of 
which  Mr.  Atkinson  speaks  as  the  special  characteristics  of  the 
individual,  and  which,  in  certain  cases,  may  furnish  suggestions 
to  be  afterwards  employed  in  conducting  his  education. 

Having  arrived  at  this  point  in  the  discussion  of  my  subject,  I 
must  make  a  confession ;  —  which,  however,  is  not  humiliating, 
because,  though  I  have  to  speak  of  personal  failure,  I  am  sup- 
ported b}'  the  consciousness  of  honest  intentions.  I  have  always 
been  fond  of  science  in  every  shape,  and  well  remember  the  de- 
light with  which,  when  a  boy,  I  adopted  as  the  pocket  companions 
of  ray  leisure  hours  the  little  volumes  of  Joyce's  "  Scientific  Dia- 
logues," and  Miss  Edgeworth's  charming  "  Harry  and  Luc}'."  I 
say  this  to  show  that  in  the  experiments  which  I  made  in  teaching 
something  that  might  be  called  science  to  young  children,  I  was 
working  con  amore,  and  with  a  real  desire  to  succeed.  But  I 
found  my  young  natural  philosophers  somewhat  difficult  to  manage. 
As  long  as  everything  was  new,  and  striking,  and  amusing, 
the}'  were  attentive  enough  ;  but  as  soon  as  anything  like  training 
was  attempted,  as  soon  as  I  required  perfect  accuracy  in  observ- 
ing, and  careful  classification  and  retention  of  results,  my  popu- 
larity waned  astonishingly.  They  were,  for  the  most  part, 
satisfied  with  the  attainments  which  they  had  made  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  external  world  within  the  first  three  or  four  years  of 
their  lives,  and  did  not.discover  that  "  craving  after  knowledge  " 
which  I  am  told  by  Mr.  Spencer  and  others,  is  always  exhibited 
by  children  until  it  is  forever  extinguished  by  the  spectral  display 
of  the  Latin  Grammar,  which  like  the  famous  Medusa's  head, 
turns  every  one  that  looks  at  it  into  stone.  According  to  my 


256  THE   CUKKICULUM  OF   MODERN   EDUCATION. 

own  experience,  the  young  natural  philosophers  generally  preferred 
choosing  their  own  subject  of  instruction,  and  their  own  arena  for 
the  exercise ;  and  that  subject  was  what  is  usuall}-  called  play, 
and  the  arena  the  play-ground.  It  is  true  enough  that  there  is  a 
great  deal  to  be  learned  of  the  properties  of  matter, — resistance, 
elasticity,  action  and  reaction,  the  composition  of  forces,  &c.  — 
in  playing  at  bat,  trap,  and  ball  ;*  but  I  doubt  very  much  whether 
there  is  any  natural  craving  after  such  knowledge  as  the  final 
cause  of  the  game. 

In  general,  I  must  say  from  experience  that  it  is  as  possible  to 
make  even  abstract  subjects,  such  as  arithmetic  and  grammar, 
quite  as  interesting  to  young  children  as  those  parts  of  science 
which  really  call  for  mental  effort,  and  involve  minute  accuracy 
and  care.  Facts  and  phenomena  certainly  do  interest  the  young  ; 
but  science,  as  such,  the  knowledge  of  the  relations  between  them, 
does  not.  Practical  teachers  are  well  aware  of  this  fact,  which 
theoretical  writers  too  often  forget,  or,  most  probably  do  not  know. 

Because  children  attending  a  lecture  on  natural  science  open 
their  eyes  very  wide,  and  look  intensely  interested  when  they  hear 
a  loud  bang,  or  see  some  of  those  striking  experiments  performed 
—  often  in  a  sort  of  d  la  Stodare  fashion  —  which  form  the  stock- 
in-trade  of  the  lecturer  on,  say  oxygen  and  hydrogen  gases,  it  is 
too  hastily  concluded  that  that  would  be  the  normal  condition  of 
their  attention  to  the  science  of  chemistry  in  general.  Look, 
however,  at  the  same  children  when  the  lecturer  takes  his  chalk  in 
hand,  and  endeavors,  by  a  diagram  of  very  simple  character,  to 
make  them  understand  the  causes  of  the  phenomena.  The  lack- 
lustre eyes  and  yawning  mouth  very  soon  tell  us  that  what  we  just 
witnessed  was  simple  excitement,  a  matter  of  the  senses,  nerves, 
and  muscles  mainly,  and  being  connected  with  amusement,  and 
therefore  involving  no  mental  exertion,  caught  the  attention  for 
an  instant,  but  was  not  in  itself  an  element  of  mental  improve- 
ment. The  moment  the  mind  was  called  on,  it  obeyed  the  summons 
with  just  as  much  alacrity  as  it  usually  displays  when  invited  to 
dissect  a  diagram  of  Euclid.  The  assertion,  that,  as  a  general 
rule  (and  independently  of  the  all-important  question  of  what  sort 
of  a  man  the  teacher  is) ,  children  love  science  and  hate  language, 
is  another  fallacy  of  the  same  kind  as  those  we  have  been  already 
so  liberally  dealing  with  this  evening.  Neither  children  nor  men 
naturally  like  the  difficulties,  the  drudgery  of  any  subject  whatever. 

*  This  is  very  pleasantly  exemplified  in  Dr.  Paris's  ingenious  little  book,  "  Philosophy 
in  Sport  made  Science  in  Earnest." 


THE   CURRICULUM  OF   MODERN   EDUCATION.  257 

No  practical  teacher  will  pretend  that  they  do.  Yet  these  diffi- 
culties must  be  overcome,  if  the  subject  is  to  be  really  learned. 
But  we  may  test  my  position  by  reference  to  music.  I  might,  of 
course,  indulge  in  any  amount  of  rhapsody  about  music,  —  its 
exquisite  charms,  —  its  universal  popularity,  and  so  on,  —  but 
what  verdict  would  a  jury  of  little  girls  give  on  what  is  technically 
termed  "practice,"  and  on  the  "  grammar  of  music?"  That 
"  practice,"  however,  and  that  "  grammar,"  are  the  very  founda- 
tion of  the  excellent  performance  which  so  delights  our  ears  and 
our  taste,  and  without  the  one  we  absolutely  cannot  have  the 
other.  I  wonder,  indeed,  whether,  if  we  could  collect  all  the  tears 
which  have  been  shed  by  children  respectively  learning  the  Latin 
grammar  and  the  piano  in  two  separate  receptacles,  the  music 
lachrymatory  would  not  contain  the  larger  quantity.  And  yet 
music  is  so  delightful,  and  the  Latin  grammar  so  horridly  dis- 
agreeable !  To  return,  however,  to  my  main  argument. 

The  early  stage  of  life  is  doubtless  the  most  suitable  time  for 
improving  and  exercising  the  natural  faculty  of  observation,  and 
much  may  be  done  at  this  time  in  preparing  the  mind  for  the 
great  benefit  which  the  proper  study  of  science  is  to  confer  upon 
it.  But  I  must  protest  against  dignifying  the  desultory  scraps  of 
information  thus  acquired  —  the  results  of  the  process  of  taking 
up  one  subject  after  another  to  keep  the  child  in  good  humor  — 
the  cakes  and  honey  supplied  to  sweeten  the  youthful  lips  —  by 
the  name  of  science  ;  nor  do  I  feel  inclined  to  think  that  we  have 
at  last  reached  the  long-sought  desideratum  in  teaching,  when  a 
band  of  children,  in  all  the  frolic  and  fun  belonging  to  their  nature, 
gather  handfuls  of  flowers,  and  run  up  to  the  teacher  to  ask  the 
names  of  them,  and  —  to  forget  them  as  soon  as  named.*  How- 
ever, if  this  is  science,  I  would  certainly  teach  it  in  the  early  stage 
of  instruction.  Children  generally  like  this  desultory  style  of 
skipping  from  subject  to  subject.  It  stimulates  their  senses, 
brings  them  into  contact  with  nature  herself  in  the  open  air, 
interests  them  in  her  glorious  variety  and  boundless  fullness,  and 
thus  supplies  happy  emotions ;  it  calls  for  little  exertion  on  their 
part,  does  not  "  bother  their  brains,"  and  is  rarely  the  occasion 
of  tears  or  punishments.!  If  this  is  science,  I  would  teach  it  as 

»  Mr.  HenslowV  interesting  experiments  In  teaching  village  children  accomplished  much 
more  than  thin;  and,  Indeed,  proves  the  applicability  of  the  subject  to  the  want*  of  the  early 
stage  of  education.  (See  "Museum."  vol.  ill.  p.  •»,  and  "  Educational  Time*,"  Nov.,  1S65.) 

t  It  Is  well,  too,  to  encourage  children  to  make  collection*  of  leavco,  butterflies,  beetle*, 
&e.  Everything  should  be  done  to  make  the  connection  between  teacher  and  pupil*  ploawint 
for  both;  and  therefore  sympathy  should  be  warmly  evinced  in  such  pursuit*  an  these.  Pro- 


258     THE  CURRICULUM  OF  MODERN  EDUCATION. 

a  part  of  the  training  of  the  observing  faculties,  a  discipline 
which  has  been  too  much  neglected  by  the  ordinary  systems ;  * 
and  in  the  hands  of  a  judicious  teacher,  out  of  these  random 
efforts  real  instruction  may  grow ;  and  the  bricks  thrown  together 
in  a  heap,  and  so  far  valueless,  may,  under  the  genial  influence  of 
the  educational  Amphion,  rise  up,  like  the  walls  of  the  fabulous 
Thebes,  into  the  form  of  a  harmonious  fabric. 

We  must  not,  however,  forget  that  our  young  philosopher,  who 
has  learnt  so  much  by  himself  in  the  first  two  or  three  years  of  his 
life  by  exercising  his  faculty  of  observation,  also  develops,  in  the 
same  space  of  time,  eminent  powers  as  a  linguist ;  and  if  we  follow 
Nature  in  aiding  and  encouraging  his  researches  in  the  one  field, 
it  appears  quite  right  to  do  the  same  in  the  other.  Indeed,  the 
two  faculties  are  exactly  adapted  to  assist  each  other ;  for  not- 
withstanding all  that  is  said  about  the  learning  of  things  as 
opposed  to  the  learning  of  words,  there  is  a  sense  in  which  they 
are  one  and  the  same,  and  it  is  very  curious  to  see  how  Mr. 
Spencer,  for  instance,  in  describing  what  he  evidently  considers 
model  lessons  in  elementary  science,  speaks  as  if  a  great  part  of 
the  object  of  these  lessons  was  to  teach  the  accurate  meaning  of 
words.  "  The  mother,"  he  says,  "  must  familiarize  her  little  boy 
with  the  names  of  the  simpler  attributes,  hardness,  softness,  color ; 
in  doing  which  she  finds  him  eagerly  help  by  bringing  this  to  show 
that  it  is  red,  and  the  other  to  make  her  feel  that  it  is  hard,  as 
fast  as  she  gives  him  icords  for  these  properties."  There  is  much 
more  to  the  same  purport,  which  I  have  no  time  to  quote.  But  is 
it  not  singular  that  so  ingenius  a  man  does  not  see  that  this 
process,  which  he  lauds  so  highly,  is  only  a  sensible  way  of  teaching, 
not  science  merely,  but  the  mother  tongue?  The  teacher  is  trying  to 
get  the  pupil  to  attach  clear  ideas  to  the  use  of  words ;  and 
while  professing  to  despise  the  teaching  of  words,  is  in  reality 
doing  little  else ;  for  words  are,  in  a  well  understood  sense,  the 
depositories  of  the  knowledge,  spirit,  and  wisdom  of  a  nation. f 
I  am  perfectly  aware  that  the  pupil,  while  thus  engaged,  is  learning 

feRsor  Blackic  has  well  expressed  these  views  In  the  following  passage  from  a  lecture  do. 
Hvered  in  Latin,  at  the  Marischal  College,  Aberdeen  :  —  "  Exeant  in  cainpos  pueri,  fluminuro. 
cursus  vestigent,  in  montes  adscendant;  eaxa,  lapides,  arbores,  herbas,  flores  uotrnt,  et  no. 
tando  amare  discant;  oculin  non  vagis,  flnitnntibus  et  somniculosls,  Bed  apertis,  claris,  firmis; 
auribu«  non  obtusis  insertlsque  fed  erectis  atqne  accuratis  rerum  varietatem  percipiant.  (De 
Latinarwn  literarum  prcextantla  atque  uliltfate,  p.  13.) 

*  See  Appendix,  note  B. 

t  He  who  completely  known  a  word  knows  nil  that  that  word  is  or  ever  was  intended  to 
convey,  its  etymological  oriein.  its  firot  meaninc  as  fixed  in  the  lani?uafre,  its  subbequent 
history,  its  varying  fortune*,  and  the  idea  it  suggests  to  various  classes  of  persona. 


THE  CURRICULUM  OF  MODERN  EDUCATION.     259 

much  more  than  mere  words ;  but  I  maintain  that  he  is  also  learn- 
ing words  while  he  is  learning  things,  and  that  the  antithesis  so 
much  insisted  on  is  more  specious  than  real.  However  this  may 
be,  I  quite  approve  of  these  lessons  on  things,  or  lessens  on  words, 
whichever  they  may  be  called,  as  a  part  of  the  elementar}-  stage 
of  instruction,  which  may  be  practically  considered  as  terminating 
at  twelve  years  of  age. 

But  this  stage  is  also  the  most  suitable  for  learning  the  use  of  a 
foreign  tongue,  and,  therefore,  to  the  elementary  subjects  which 
must,  as  a  matter  of  course,  come  into  the  curriculum  —  reading, 
writing,  arithmetic,  taught  at  first  by  palpable  objects,  or  counters  ; 
geography,  commencing  with  the  topography  of  the  house  and 
parish  in  which  the  pupil  lives  ;  history,  made  picturesque  by  oral 
teaching  in  such  a  way  as  to  arrest  the  attention  and  stimulate  the 
imagination  ;  lessons  on  objects  as  introductory  to  the  rudiments  of 
science ;  word -lessons,*  gradually  extended  from  the  names  of 
material  objects  to  those  of  moral  and  intellectual  notions  —  should 
be  added  to  the  study  of  French.  The  lessons  in  this  language  should 
be  eminently  practical ;  accurate  pronunciation  should  be  insisted 
on,  and  as  rapidly  as  possible  the  actual  practice  secured.  This  is 
the  main  point.  At  no  period  of  life  will  so  good  an  opportunity  be 
found  for  doing  this  in  an  easy,  natural  way.  The  organs  are  in  a 
flexible  condition,  the  ear  is  apt  at  catching,  the  mouth  at  imitating, 
sounds ;  and  without  even  talking  of  grammar  (should  such  talk 
seem  very  alarming)  a  true  initiation  into  the  language  may  be 
gained.  All  that  has  now  been  suggested  appears  to  be  quite  con- 
sistent with  the  principle  above  recommended,  of  continuing  the 
exercise  of  the  faculties  of  observation  and  imitation  already 
commenced  by  Nature. 

Such  rudimentary  lessons  in  science  as  have  been  proi>osed 
above,  do  not  appear  to  involve  much  strict  mental  discipline  ;  nor 
do  I  believe,  for  reasons  which  will  presently  be  suggested,  that 
true  science  can  advantageously  be  studied  by  very  young  pupils. f 

*  Hints  for  such  lessons  might  be  gained  from  Wood's  "Account  of  the  Edinburgh 
Sessional  School ; "  but  better  ones  can  easily  be  frmm-d. 

t  It  Is  only  fair  to  place  In  view  here  the  opinions  on  this  point  of  Dr.  Carpenter  and  Mr. 
Faraday,  to  whose  judgment  on  any  subject  great  deference  is  due;  only  adding,  that  I  »houM 
attach  more  ^alue  to  their  opinions  on  teaching  men,  to  whom  they  are  accustomed,  than  on 
teaching  children,  to  which,  an  far  as  I  know,  they  are  not  accustomed.  In  this  matter  a>  in 
others  referred  to  before  (sec  p.  13),  going  through  with  a  thing  is  very  different  from  merely 
beiiinnins  it.  or  touching  it  at  special  selected  points.  Have  these  gentlemen  taught  children 
hour  after  hour,  year  after  year? 

"  At  ten  years  old  a  boy  [and  therefore  the  average  of  boys]  Is  quite  capable  of  understand- 
ing  a  very  large  proportion  of  what  is  set  down  for  matriculation  at  the  London  University 


260  THE  CURRICULUM  OF  MODERN  EDUCATION. 

There  is,  however,  one  subject,  which  might,  perhaps  be  taken  as 
the  disciplinary  study  of  the  elementary  stage,  and  with  the  greatest 
advantage.  That  subject  is  Arithmetic,  which,  if  judiciously  taught, 
involves  a  genuine  mental  discipline  of  the  most  valuable  kind ; 
and  though  really  abstract  in  its  nature,  is  capable  of  exciting  the 
liveliest  interest,  while  it  forms  in  the  pupil  habits  of  mental  atten- 
tion, argumeutatiA'e  sequence,  absolute  accuracy,  and  satisfaction 
in  truth  as  a  result,  that  do  not  seem  to  spring  equally  from  the 
study  of  any  other  subject  suitable  to  this  elementary  stage  of 
instruction. 

At  twelve  years  of  age  the  pupil  may  be  considered  as  entering 
on  the  second  stage  of  the  curriculum  ;  and  henceforth  the  develop- 
ment of  the  reflective  faculties,  and  the  acquisition  of  habits  of 
industry  and  hard  work,  are  the  main  objects  to  be  kept  in  view. 
This  is  to  be  especially  the  stage  of  discipline  ;  discipline  by  means 
of  Science  (including  Mathematics)  and  Language.  The  question 
now  is,  which  shall  take  the  lead. 

Science  may,  for  our  present  purpose,  be  defined  to  be  the 
"knowledge  of  the  laws  of  Nature,  as  gained  by  reflection  on  facts 
which  have  been  previously  arranged  in  an  orderly  and  methodical 
manner  in  the  mind,  in  accordance  with  their  natural  relation  to 
each,  other.  Every  one  must  see  that  such  a  subject  as  this  affords 
abundant  scope  for  a  life-long,  and  not  merely  a  school,  education. 
Considering,  too,  that  this  knowledge  is  not  only  deeply  interest- 
ing in  itself,  but,  being  gained  for  the  very  purpose  of  diffusion, 
adds  greatly  to  the  sum  of  human  happiness  and  prosperity,  the 
motives  to  its  pursuit  are  indeed  transcendently  powerful,  so  that 
it  must  be  a  matter  of  great  concern  to  all  to  secure  for  those  who 
are  to  pursue  it,  even  in  a  subordinate  degree,  a  worthy  training. 

If  Science,  then,  is  to  constitute  a  real  discipline  for  the  mind, 
much,  nay  everything,  will  depend  on  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
studied.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  (to  use  the 
oft-quoted  phrase)  the  pupil  is  about  to  study  things,  not  words ; 
and  therefore  treatises  on  science  are  not  to  be  in  the  first  instance 
placed  before  him.  He  must  commence  with  the  accurate  examina- 
tion (for  which  he  has  been  partially  prepared  ~by  the  first  stage 

\mder  the  head  of  Natural  Philosophy."  (Dr.  Carpenter's  Evidence  before  a  Commission, 
on  Public  Schools,  vol.  lv.,  p.  364.) 

"I  would  teach  a  littlu  boy  of  eleven  years  of  age  [i.  e.  the  average  boys  of  eleven?]  of 
ordinary  Intelligence,  all  these  things  that  come  before  classics  In  this  programme  of  the 
London  University,  i.  e.  mechanics,  hydrostatics,  hydraulics,  optics,"  &c.  (Mr.  Faraday's 
Evidence,  vol.  lv.,  p.  378.) 


THE   CURRICULUM    OF   MODERN   EDUCATION.  261 

of  instruction)  of  the  objects  and  phenomena  themselves,  not  of 
descriptions  of  them  prepared  by  others.  By  this  means  not  only 
will  his  attention  be  excited,  the  power  of  observation,  previously 
awakened,  much  strengthened,  and  the  senses  exercised  and 
disciplined,  but  the  very  important  habit  of  doing  homage  to  the 
authority  of  facts  rather  than  to  the  authority  of  men,  be  initiated. 
These  different  objects  and  phenomena  may  be  placed  and  viewed 
toiivthcT,  and  thus  the  mental  faculties  of  comparison  and  dis- 
crimination usefully  practised.  They  may,  in  the  next  place,  be 
methodically  arranged  and  classified,  and  thus  the  mind  may 
In-come  accustomed  to  an  orderly  arrangement  of  its  knowledge. 
Then  the  accidental  may  be  distinguished  from  the  essential,  the 
common  from  the  special,  and  so  the  habit  of  generalization  ma}' 
*  be  acquired  ;  and  lastly,  advancing  from  effects  to  causes,  or  con- 
versely from  principles  to  their  necessary  conclusions,  the  pupil 
becomes  acquainted  with  induction  and  deduction  —  processes  of 
the  highest  value  and  importance.  Every  one  will  allow  that  such 
a  course  as  this,  faithfully  carried  out,  must  prove  to  be  a  very 
valuable  training.  It  would  not,  indeed,  discipline  the  mind  so 
closely  as  pure  mathematics,  yet  its  range  is  wider,  and  it  is  more 
closely  connected  with  human  interests  and  feelings.  It  is  no 
small  advantage,  too,  that  it  affords,  both  in  its  pursuits  and  its 
results,  —  both  in  the  chase  and  the  capture,  —  a  very  large  amount 
of  legitimate  and  generous  mental  pleasure,  and  of  a  kind  which 
the  pupil  will  probably  be  desirous  of  renewing  for  himself  after 
he  has  left  school.  After  all,  however,  it  will  be  observed  that, 
while  the  study  of  the  physical  sciences  tends  to  give  power  over 
the  material  forces  of  the  universe,  it  leaves  untouched  the  greater 
forces  of  the  human  heart ;  it  makes  a  botanist,  a  geologist,  au 
electrician,  an  architect,  an  engineer,  but  it  does  not  make  a  man. 
The  hopes,  the  fears,  the  hatreds  and  the  loves,*the  emotions  which 
stir  us  to  heroic  action,  the  reverence  which  bows  in  the  presence 
of  the  inexpressibly  good  and  great :  the  sensitive  moral  taste 
which  shrinks  from  vice  and  approves  virtue  ;  the  sensitive  mental 
taste,  which  appreciates  the  sublime  and  beautiful  in  art,  and 
sheds  delicious  tears  over  the  immortal  works  of  genius —  all  this 
•wonderful  world  of  sensation  and  emotion  lies  "outside  that  world 
which  is  especially  cultivated  by  the  physical  sciences.  This  is  no 
argument,  of  course,  against  their  forming  a  proper,  nay  an 
essential,  part  of  the  curriculum,  but  it  is  an  argument  against 
their  taking  the  first  place.  They  are  intimately  connected,  of 
course,  with  our  daily  wants  and  conveniences.  The  study  of  tin  m 


262  THE   CURRICULUM  OF   MODERN   EDUCATION. 

cultivates  in  the  best  way  the  faculties  of  observation,  and  leads 
naturally  to  the  formation  in  the  mind  of  the  idea  of  natural  law, 
and  so  ultimately  to  investigations  and  suggestions  of  a  very  high 
order,  in  the  pursuit  of  which  it  is  sought  to  define  the  shadowy 
boundary  between  mind  and  matter,  or  to  reveal  to  present  time 
the  long  buried  secrets  of  the  past.  But  in  order  to  attain  at  last 
these  eminent  heights  of  science,  the  preliminary  training  must 
be  rigorous  and  exact.  It  must  embrace  the  difficult  as  well  as 
the  pleasing  and  amusing  —  that  wjiich  requires  close  and  long- 
continued  attention  as  well  as  that  which  only  ministers  to  a 
transient  curiosity.  It  must  be  based  on  the  "  firm  ground  of 
experiment,"  and  be  independent  of  a  mere  book  study,  which,  it 
has  been  well  observed,  is,  in  relation  to  science,  only  as  valuable, 
in  the  absence  of  the  facts,  as  a  commentaiy  on  the  Iliad  would 
be  to  him  who  had  never  read  the  poem. 

We  may  assent  then,  on  the  whole,  without  hesitation,  to  the 
wise  and  careful  judgment  passed  on  the  study  of  physical  science 
as  a  part  of  the  Curriculum  by  the  Public  School  Commissioners  in 
their  report.  "  It  quickens,"  they  say,  "  and  cultivates  directly, 
the  faculty  of  observation,  which  in  very  many  persons  lies  almost 
dormant  through  life,  the  power  of  accurate  and  rapid  generaliza- 
tion, and  the  mental  habit  of  method  and  arrangement;  it  accus- 
toms young  persons  to  trace  the  sequence  of  cause  and  effect ;  it 
familiarizes  them  with  a  kind  of  reasoning  which  interests  them, 
and  which  they  can  promptly  comprehend ;  and  it  is  perhaps  the 
best  corrective  for  that  indolence  which  is  the  vice  of  half-awakened 
minds,  and  which  shrinks  from  any  exertion  that  is  not,  like  an 
effort  of  memory,  merely  mechanical."  In  spite,  then,  of  Dr. 
Moberly's  denunciation  of  such  studies  as  "  worthless,"  and  as 
"giving  no  power"  in  education,*  I  maintain  that  it  is  utterly 
impossible  to  exclude  a  subject  with  pretensions  like  these  from 
our  curriculum.  They  must  and  will  occupy  a  considerable  space 
in  it — they  deserve  to  do  so.  For  reasons,  however,  already 
stated,  I  would  not  give  them  the  post  of  the  highest  distinction, 
which  ought  to  be  reserved  for  the  studies  which  exercise,  not 
special  faculties,  but  the  whole  man  ;  not  the  man  as  a  professional 
and  with  a  utilitarian  end  in  view,  but  as  a  citizen  of  the  world, 

*  In  a  School  like  this  (Winchester),  I  consider  instruction  In  physical  science,  In  the  way 
In  which  we  can  give  it,  is  worthless.  ...  A  scientific  fact  ...  is  a  fact  which  produces 
nothing  in  a  boy's  mind.  ...  It  leads  to  nothing.  It  does  not  germinate;  it  is  a  perfectly 
unfruitful  fact.  .  .  .  These  things  give  no  power  whatever."  (Evidence  before  Commission 
on  Public  Sclwols,  vol.  iii.,  p.  344.) 


THE   CURRICULUM   OF   MODERN   EDUCATION.  263 

as  one  who  is  to  meet  his  fellow-men  and  to  influence  their  decisions 
upon  the  difficult  and  complicated  problems  of  society.* 

Some  think  that  pure  mathematics  should  occupy  this  central 
post  of  honor.  A  moment's  consideration,  however,  will  show 
that  the  stud}'  of  algebra,  geometry,  the  calculus,  &c.,  not  only 
does  not  embrace  those  topics  of  common  interest  which  are 
essential  for  our  purpose  ;  but  has  a  special  and  limited  office  to 
perform  —  I  mean,  of  course,  independently  of  their  practical 
applications.  Lord  Bacon  has  judiciously  summed  up  their 
special  functions.  "They  do,"  he  says,  "remedy  and  cure 
many  defects  in  the  wit  and  faculties  intellectual ;  for  if  the  wit 
be  too  dull,  they  sharpen  it ;  if  too  wandering,  they  fix  it ;  if  too 
inherent  in  the  sense,  they  abstract  it.  So  that  as  tennis  is  a 
game  of  no  use  of  itself,  but  of  great  use  in  respect  it  maketh  a 
quick  eye,  and  a  body  ready  to  put  itself  into  all  postures ;  so 
with  mathematics,  that  use  which  is  collateral  and  intervenient 
is  no  less  worthy  than  that  which  is  principal  and  intended." 
These  words  aptly  characterize  the  advantages  of  the  study  of 
mathematics,  and  point  out  their  proper  office  in  education.  They 
cannot,  from  their  very  nature,  exercise  a  formative  power  over 
the  whole  mind  ;  but  they  are  very  profitably  employed  in  correct- 
ing certain  defects,  and  in  teaching,  as  scarcely  anything  else  can 
teach,  habits  of  accuracy.  They  call  into  play  but  few  of  the 
faculties ;  but  these  they  exercise  rigorously,  and  therefore  use- 
fully. It  has  been  objected  to  them,  that  when  pursued  to  any 
considerable  extent,  without  the  counterpoise  of  more  general 
studies,  they  become  particularly  exclusive  and  mechanical  in 
their  influence  ;  but  this  perhaps  can  hardly  be  considered  as  an 
essential  characteristic.  On  the  whole,  however,  it  can  scarcely 
be  maintained  that  mathematics  will  serve  as  the  basis  we  require 
for  our  educational  operations,  though  no  education  can  be  con- 
sidered as  complete  which  excludes  them. 

Having  then  shown  that,  notwithstanding  the  great  value  both 
of  physics  and  of  mathematics  in  education,  they  are  too  special 
in  their  application  to  serve  as  the  central  subject  in  our  curricu- 
lum, we  turn  once  more  to  language,  and  especially  to  the  Latin  lan- 
guage which  I  should  propose  as  the  exercising  ground  best  adapted 
for  the  intellectual  drilling  of  our  young  soldier.  Greek,  in  the  case 
of  those  whose  school  education  is  to  terminate  at  sixteen  years 
of  age,  must,  I  think,  be  displaced  in  favor  of  the  practical  claims 

*  See  Dr.  Johnson's  opinion,  Appendix  C. 


264  THE  CURRICULUM   OF   MODERN   EDUCATION. 

of  German.  This  concession,  and  this  only,  would  I  recommend 
making  to  public  opinion.  And  it  is  the  less  necessary  to  contest 
this  point,  as  nearly  all  the  disciplinary  advantages  which  so 
eminently  characterize  the  study  of  the  classical  languages  may 
be  gained  from  the  study  of  Latin  alone.  It  may  then,  I  conceive, 
be  fairly  maintained  that  the  place  which  classical  instruction 
holds  in  the  curriculum  of  English  education  is  not  duo  to  preju- 
dice, as  some  believe  ;  nor  to  ignorance  of  what  is  going  on  in 
society  around  us,  as  others  pretend  ;  but  to  a  well-judged  estimate 
of  its  importance  and  value  as  a  discipline  to  the  youthful  mind, 
and  as  an  element  of  the  highest  rank  among  the  civilizing 
influences  of  the  world. 

This  study  may  be  considered  under  two  aspects,  the  language 
itself  and  its  literature. 

My  first  proposition  is  that  the  study  of  the  Latin  language 
itself  does  eminently  discipline  the  faculties,  and  secure,  to  a 
greater  degree  than  that  of  the  other  subjects  we  have  discussed, 
the  formation  and  growth  of  those  mental  qualities  which  are  the 
best  preparatives  for  the  business  of  life  —  whether  that  business 
is  to  consist  in  making  fresh  mental  acquisitions,  or  in  directing 
the  powers  thus  strengthened  and  matured,  to  professional  or 
other  pursuits. 

Written  language  consists  of  sentences,  and  sentences  of  words. 
In  commencing  the  study  of  a  language,  we  may  consider  these 
words  as  things,  which  we  have  to  investigate  and  analyze.  They 
possess  many  qualities  in  common  with  natural  objects,  and  may 
,be  therefore  treated  in  a  somewhat  similar  wa}r.  They  have 
material  qualities  ;  they  can  be  seen  —  they  can  be  named  (their 
sound  is  their  name)  —  they  can  be  compared  together  —  their 
resemblances  and  differences  discriminated,  and  arrangements  or 
classifications  of  them  made  in  accordance  with  observed  similarity 
or  difference  in  form.  The  memory,  too,  is  practically  and  sys- 
tematically exercised.  The  paradigms  of  inflections  must  be 
accurately  learnt  by  heart,  and  so  familiarly  known  that  the 
constant  comparison  between  them  as  staudards,  and  the  varying 
forms  which  arise  for  interpretation  may  be  spontaneous  and  easy. 
And  these  acts  of  comparison  are  themselves,  of  great  value,  and 
tend  to  cultivate  accuracy  of  judgment :  the  very  blunders  made 
are  instructive  :  the  half- perception  induced  by  indolence  must  be 
corrected  by  increased  labor.  The  attempt  at  evasion  ends  in  a 
more  complete  reception ;  hence  a  moral  as  well  as  a  mental 
lesson.  Thus,  acts  of  attention,  observation,  memory,  and  judg- 


THE  CURRICULUM   OF   MODERN   EDUCATION.  265 

ment  are  called  forth ;  and  these  acts,  by  being  performed 
numberless  times,  grow  into  habits.  Again,  these  words  can  be 
analyzed,  separated  into  their  component  parts,  and  these  parts 
severally  examined,  and  their  functious  ascertained.  Conversely, 
we  may  employ  the  synthetic  process.  We  may  fashion  these 
elements  in  conformity  with  some  given  model,  and  thus  adapt 
them  to  some  given  end.  By  closer  investigation  and  comparison, 
affinities  before  unperceived  are  traced  and  appreciated,  the 
transformation  of  letters  detected,  and  the  foundation  laid  for 
the  science  of  Philology.  It  should  be  observed,  that  all  these 
operations  or  experiments  (for  so  they  may  be  called)  are  per- 
formed on  facts — on  objects  (a  word  is  as  much  an  object  as  a 
flower)  directly  exposed  to  observation  ;  that  they  are  at  the 
same  time  simple  in  their  nature,  and  though  requiring  minute 
attention,  and  so  forming  the  habit  of  accuracy,  are  evidently 
within  the  competency  of  a  child.  It  is  no  small  advantage  that 
the  means  of  training  the  mind  to  such  habits  are  always  within 
reach,  and  available  to  an  unlimited  extent ;  and  not,  as  is  often 
the  case  with  respect  to  physical  objects,  adapted  to  elicit  some- 
what similar  exertions,  obtained  with  difficulty,  and  therefore, 
perhaps,  only  heard  of,  and  not  seen. 

But  the  attention  of  the  pupil,  at  times  necessarily  occupied 
with  the  accidents  or  inflections  —  the  characteristic  point  of 
difference  between  his  own  and  the  Latin  language  —  is  at  others 
directed  especially  to  what  we  may  call  the  being  of  each  word, 
the  idea  which  it  is  intended  to  convey  or  suggest.  And  now 
these  words,  lately  treated  as  simply  material,  inanimate,  and 
dead  —  anatomical  "  subjects  "  —  are  to  be  considered  as  invested 
with  a  kind  of  physiological  interest,  and  as  exhibiting  phe- 
nomena of  life  whose  nature  it  becomes  important  to  study.  Our 
pupil's  interest  in  them,  viewed  under  this  aspect,  cannot  but  be 
much  augmented.  Words  are  now  no  longer  things  merely,  but 
significant  symbols  of  ideas.  These  little  organisms,  in  one 
sense  mere  torpid  aggregations  of  matter,  are  in  another,  when 
placed  in  juxtaposition  with  words  of  our  language,  or  when 
viewed  in  connection  with  cognates  of  their  own,  capable  of 
affording  vivid  illustrations  of  the  methods  and  artifices  by  which 
languages  are  formed.  Hence  arise  exercises  in  derivation  *  or 
tracing  of  words  up  to  their  roots,  and  in  analysis,  or  breaking  up 
the  compounds  into  their  several  components.  These  exercises 
in  derivation  cultivate  moreover,  when  properly  carried  out,  the 
habit  of  deducing  the  secondary  and  figurative  senses  of  words 


266  THE   CURRICULUM   OF   MODERN  EDUCATION. 

from  the  primar}'  and  literal.  Such  an  exercise  leads  the  pupil 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  mere  language.  In  pursuing  it,  he 
learns  to  study  the  mode  in  which  the  earl}-  stages  of  society 
formed  their  conceptions,  and  to  notice  how,  as  civilization 
advanced,  the  language  too  bore  evidence  of  the  change.  Thus 
the  word  gubernare  primarily  means  to  pilot  a  vessel ;  secondarily, 
to  direct  the  vessel  of  the  state,  to  govern.* 

But  words,  in  themselves  vital  organisms,  though  frequently  the 
life  is  rather  latent  than  visible,  are  also  to  be  considered  in  their 
combination  in  sentences.  Their  vitality  now  becomes  intensified. 
The  original  author,  speaking  to  men  of  his  own  nation,  and 
aptly  employing  the  resources  of  his  craft,  had  by  a  kind  of  intel- 
lectual magnetism  converted  the  neutral  and  indifferent  into  the 
active  and  significant,  and  constrained  all  to  co-operate  in  effecting 
his  great  purpose  of  speaking  out  to  other  minds.  And  there 
before  the  eyes  of  our  pupil  is  the  result.  But  it  does  not  speak 
out  to  him.  That  sentence,  beginning  with  a  capital  and  ending 
with  a  full  stop,  is  a  body  with  a  soul  in  it,  with  which  he  has  to 
communicate.  But  how  to  do  this  ?  His  eye  passes  over  it.  It 
looks  unattractive,  dark,  and  cold.  Soon,  however,  something  is 
seen  in  the  words  or  their  inflections,  which  he  recognizes,  by  a 
kind  of  momentary  flash  as  significant.  The  soul  within  begins 
to  speak  to  him ;  and  he  catches  some  faint  conception  of  what  it 
would  reveal.  As  he  still  gives  heed,  other  points  show  symptoms 
of  life,  and  the  lately  brute  and  torpid  mass  becomes  vocal  and 
articulate.  One  after  another  the  words  kindle  into  expression  ; 
clause  after  clause  is  disentangled  from  its  connection  with  the 
main  body  of  the  sentence,  and  appreciated  both  separately  and 
in  combination,  until  at  length  a  thrill  of  intelligence  pervades 
the  whole,  and  the  passage,  before  dark,  inanimate,  and  unmean- 
ing, becomes  instinct  with  light  and  life. 

By  these  and  similar  processes,  which  it  is  needless  to  specify, 
the  pupil  learns  to  apprehend  his  author's  meaning,  though 
perhaps  at  first  only  obscurely.  The  next  stage  in  his  training  is 
to  find  words  and  phrases  in  his  native  tongue  suited  to  express  it. 
To  do  this  adequately,  he  must  not  only  ascertain  the  meaning  of 
each  term,  but  conceive  fully  and  correctly  all  the  propositions 

*  This  sort  of  Investigation  often  opens  a  very  interesting  field  of  inquiry.  Thus  the  word 
virtu*,  In  different  stages  of  the  Roman  history,  meant  successively,  active  physical  courage 
or  manhood,  and  active  moral  courage,  or  virtue;  while  later,  in  Rome's  comparatively 
degenerate  days,  virtu  signified  a  taste  for  the  fine  arts!  a  pregnant  commentary  on  the 
character  of  the  people.  That  people,  however,  it  may  bo  remarked,  has  already  begun  to 
restore  the  original  meaning  of  the  word. 


THE  CURRICULUM   OF  MODERN  EDUCATION.  267 

that  constitute  a  complete  sentence,  in  their  natural  connection  and 
interdependence ;  he  must  observe  the  bearing  of  the  previous 
sentences  on  the  one  under  consideration,  and  the  ultimate  point  to 
which  all  are  tending.  Now,  in  order  to  convey  perfectly  to  others 
the  meaning,  which  he  has  himself  laboriously  acquired,  he  must 
not  only  have  made  an  exact  logical  analysis  of  the  sentence,  so 
as  to  see  what  he  has  to  say,  but  must  exercise  his  judgment  and 
taste  (not  to  say  knowledge)  on  the  choice  of  words  and  phrases 
which  will  best  answer  the  purpose,  and  truly  represent  the  clear- 
ness, energy,  or  eloquence  of  the  author.  To  do  this  faultlessly 
requires  of  course  the  matured  judgment  and  refined  taste  of  the 
accomplished  scholar ;  but  the  very  effort  involved  in  the  attempt 
to  grasp  the  spirit  of  the  author,  to  rise  to  the  elevation  of  his 
thoughts,  and  to  gain  the  sympathy  of  others  for  them  by  an 
adequate  and  worthy  representation  of  them  in  his  native  language, 
cannot  but  elevate  his  own  mental  stature.  "  We  strive  to  ascend, 
and  we  ascend  in  our  striving." 

The  advantages  of  such  a  course  as  I  have  now  sketched  must 
be  acknowledged  to  be  very  great,  although  only  the  language  is  as 
yet  under  consideration.  But  there  are  two  or  three  other  points 
that  must  not  be  omitted.  The  first  of  these  is  the  value  of  the 
strict  grammatical  analysis  required.  The  process  of  eliciting 
light  out  of  darkness,  before  described,  can  only  be  accomplished 
by  one  who  is  armed  with  grammatical  power.  Without  this,  the 
efforts  made  to  communicate  with  the  soul  of  the  author  must  be 
feeble  and  ineffectual.  It  is  one  of  the  special  objects  of  the  course 
I  am  advocating,  to  cultivate  this  faculty,  because  in  doing  so  we 
are  in  fact  cultivating  to  a  high  degree  the  reasoning  powers  of  the 
pupil.  The  construction  of  words  in  a  sentence  does  not  depend 
upon  arbitrary  laws,  but  upon  right  reason,  upon  the  exact 
correspondence  between  expression  and  thought,  and  therefore 
"good  grammar,"  as  has  been  well  observed,  "is  neither  more 
nor  less  than  good  sense."* 

A  wise  teacher  —  one  who  wishes  to  quicken,  and  is  anxious  not 
to  deaden,  his  pupil's  mind  —  will  not,  of  course,  force  upon  him 

*  Aa  the  analysis  of  sentences  is  now  become  a  regular  part  of  tin-  study  of  English  in  all 
good  schools,  I  would  strongly  recommend  its  also  being  made  ancillary  in  the  study  of  Latin. 
Lessons  on  the  essential  elements  of  u  sentence,  on  "subject  "and  "predicate,"  and  on  the 
predicative,  attributive,  and  other  relations  (such  as  may  be  found  admirably  displayed  In 
Mason's  English  Grammar),  should  form  the  basis  of  the  teaching  of  Latin,  as  they  do  of 
English,  syntax.  Their  application  to  Caesar,  Cicero,  or  Virgil,  would  be  not  only  most 
valuable  in  itself  as  mental  training;,  but  would  greatly  lessen  the  difficulties  full  by  a  boy  hi 
dealing  with  complicated  construction*  which  arc  new  to  him. 


268     THE  CURRICULUM  OF  MODERN  EDUCATION. 

those  indigestible  boluses,  the  technical  rules  and  definitions  of 
syntax,  before  training  him  to  observe  the  facts  on  which  the  rules 
are  founded  ;  but  will  accustom  him  to  the  habit  of  reasoning  only 
in  the  presence  of  facts,  which  is  so  valuable  at  all  times.  The 
habit  of  reasoning  on  the  construction,  the  syntax  of  one  language, 
is,  of  course,  generally  applicable  to  others ;  and  its  practice  in 
connection  with  Latin  tends  by  an  amount  of  experience  which 
countervails  all  theory,  to  prepare  the  pupil  for  learning  his  own 
language  thoroughly. 

In  addition  to  the  grammatical  advantage  just  named,  there  are 
two  others  I  would  mention  which  prove  that  learning  Latin  is  a 
good  preparation  for  the  better  knowledge  of  the  mother  tongue,  — 
the  one  is,  that  as  so  large  a  part  of  the  vocabulary  of  the  English 
language  is  derived  from  the  Latin,  either  directly,  or  indirectly 
through  the  French,  no  accurate  study  of  the  former  can  be  accom- 
plished without  a  fundamental  knowledge  of  Latin.  According  to 
Archbishop  Trench,  thirty  per  cent  of  the  vocabulary  actually  used 
by  our  authors  is  derived  from  the  Latin ;  and  the  proportion  is 
still  greater,  if  we  analyze  the  columns  of  our  English  dictionary, 
where  the  words  are  what  is  called  "  at  rest."  Indeed,  to  so  great 
a  degree  have  we  admitted  these  aliens  into  our  language,  that  we 
have  learnt  to  attach  Latin  prefixes  and  suffixes  to  pure  English 
roots,  so  as  to  form  new  and  hybrid  compounds.  But  further,  — 
and  this  point  is  less  obvious  than  that  just  adduced,  — as  almost  all 
our  greatest  authors  were  trained  in  the  classical  school,  both  their 
vocabulary  and  phraseology,  their  language  and  their  thoughts, 
bear  a  characteristic  stamp  upon  them  which  can  only  be  fully 
appreciated  by  those  who  have  undergone  a  similar  training.  It  is 
not  too  much  to  say  that  many  exquisite  graces,  both  of  thought 
and  expression,  in  the  works  of  Bacon,  Milton,  Sir  T.  Brown, 
Jeremy  Taylor,  Sir  W.  Temple,  Gray,  Young,  Cowper,  and  others, 
must  elude  the  notice  —  and  so  far  fail  in  their  object  —  of  a  reader 
not  qualified  to  meet  the  authors  as  it  were  on  their  own  ground.* 
And  may  I  add  that,  as  far  as  my  own  observation  goes,  by  far  the 
most  enthusiastic  lovers  of  our  own  language  and  literature  are  the 
votaries  of  classical  learning.  They  love  more  because  they  can 
appreciate  better. 

*  Examples  are  numberless :  just  three  or  four  occur  at  this  moment.    Take  Milton  — 
"  Satan  exalted  sat,  by  merit  raised 

To  that  bad  eminence."  —  Par.  Lost,  11.,  5.) 
"The  undaunted  fiend  what  this  might  be  admired; 
Admired,  not  feared.'  —  (Pur.  Lost,  11.,  67T.) 


THE   CURRICULUM  OF   MODERN   EDUCATION.  269 

But  it  will  be  thought  that  I  have  sufficiently  pleaded  the  cause 
of  Latin  as  far  as  the  Language  is  concerned.  I  must,  therefore, 
devote  a  few  words  to  its  literature.  In  a  course  such  as  I  have 
proposed,  and  which  I  would  commence  at  12,  with  the  idea  of 
carrying  it  on  up  to  the  age  of  1C,  and  employing  in  it  half  the 
hours  of  every  school  day,  and  which  would  comprehend,  besides 
the  study  of  the  language,  such  cultivation  of  geography,  history, 
archaeology,  &c.,  as  would  be  required  for  the  elucidation  of  the 
text,  and  also  the  parallel  study  of  English  literature,  we  could  not 
hope  to  read  many  authors.  Indeed,  faithful  to  the  principle, 
multum  non  multa,  I  would  not  even  attempt  it.  A  selection  of  the 
best  might  be  made,  to  be  studied  on  the  principle  that  they  were 
to  be  actually  known,  not  merely  "  gone  through,"*  by  means  of 
which  not  only  would  the  pupil  profit  by  the  invigorating  discipline 
I  have  described,  but  be  subjected  to  the  enlarging  and  refining 
influence  which  would  place  him  in  communion  with  some  of  the 
master  spirits  of  antiquity,  and  therefore  give  him  an  introduction 
to  those  great  authors  of  all  modern  times  whose  labors  have 
tended  to  form  the  civilization  of  Europe.  In  no  other  way  can  he 
so  well  be  introduced  to  the  commonwealth  of  letters,  and  be  made 
free  to  avail  himself  of  its  privileges.  The  fact  that  these  finished 
works  of  literary  art  still  survive  amongst  us,  as  real  substantial 
powers  whose  influence  cannot  be  gainsaid,  is  a  wondrous  proof  of 
their  merit  as  models  of  composition.  They  present  us  with  his- 
tories which  still  enlighten  and  instruct  men  in  the  art  of  govern- 
ment, with  oratory  which  still  speaks  in  trumpet  tones  to  the 
human  heart,  with  poetry  still  "  musical  as  is  Apollo's  lute  ;  "  in 
short,  with  matter  which,  however  now  disparaged,  has  served  in 
successive  ages  both  to  furnish  men  with  thoughts,  and  to  teach 
them  how  to  think  ;  so  that  in  truth,  though  styled  doad,  the}'  are, 
in  the  highest  sense,  ever  living  ;  having  (to  use  Hobbes'  eloquent 
expression)  "  put  off  flesh  and  blood,  and  put  on  immortality." 

But  I  must  pass  in  review  a  few  of  the  objections  commonly 
taken  against  the  positions  I  have  maintained  in  this  paper. 

"That  wise  and  civil  Roman,  Julius  Agrioola." —  (Areopagitica.) 

"  Padness  docs,  in  some  CARPS,  become  a  Christian,  as  being  an  index  of  a  pious  mind,  of 
compassion,  and  a  wise,  proper  resentment  of  things." —  (Jtrfmy  Taylor.) 
"  Prevent  us,  O  Lord,  with  thy  most  gracious  favor."  —  (Book  of  Common  Prayer  ) 

"This  proud  man  affects  Imperial  sway." — (Dryden.) 

It  is  obvious  that  a  more  English  scholar,  uneducated  in  classics,  would  not  of  himself, 
see  the  exact  meaning  of  the  words  in  italics. 
*  See  Appendix  D. 


270  THE   CUK1UCULUM   OF   MODEKN   EDUCATION. 

1st.  Some  object  to  the  very  principle  of  a  central  or  funda- 
mental study,  and  denounce  it  as  a  fundamental  fallacy.  Since  it 
is  admitted,  they  say,  that  it  is  not  so  much  the  subject  as  the 
manner  of  learning  it  that  constitutes  the  discipline,  one  subject  13 
as  good  as  another ;  and  as  it  is  a  matter  of  great  importance  to 
interest  the  pupil,  we  had  better  adopt  subjects  pro  re  nata,  which 
seem  likely  to  accomplish  that  object,  without  respect  to  their  rank 
in  the  circle  of  knowledge.  We  may  thus  secure  the  object  in  view 
without  the  difficulty,  perplexity,  hard  work,  and  sometimes  even 
tears,  which  are  attendant  on  a  stricter  discipline,  and  which  often 
set  the  pupil  against  learning  altogether.  To  refute  this  objection, 
I  should  have  to  repeat  much  of  my  previous  argument,  in  which 
you  will  remember  I  contended  for  the  upholding  of  one  subject,  or 
at  least  very  few  subjects,  on  the  principle  that  while,  with  regard 
to  some,  we  may  be  contented  with  a  general  knowledge,  there 
should  be  one  at  least  which  should  be  learned  as  well  as  possible, 
and  serve  as  a  sort  of  standard  of  comparison.  I  accept,  however, 
these  objections  as  valid,  on  condition  that  those  who  uphold  them 
will  promise  that  their  pupils  shall  not  shirk  the  drudgery,  the 
drill,  which  must  be  undergone  in  the  learning  of  any  subject 
whatever,  and  which  often  constitutes  the  most  valuable  part  of 
the  process  j  that  in  teaching  music  they  will  strictly  require  the 
"practice"  and  also  the  "grammar  of  music:"  in  teaching 
languages,  perfect  grammatical  analysis ;  in  teaching  science, 
rigidly  close  attention  to  details,  however  irksome,  and  to  every 
step  of  the  reasoning  properly  deduced  from  them.  If  the  ob- 
jectors accept  this  test,  they  surrender  the  position  that  the  study 
is  to  be  accommodated  to  the  pupil,  and  therefore  tacitly  allow  the 
principle  of  a  training  subject ;  if  they  do  not,  they  are  driven 
back  upon  the  Chrestomathic  curriculum,  and  the  idea  of  real 
education,  as  I  understand  the  term,  is  given  up. 

2d.  It  is  maintained  that  if  a  leading  subject  is  desirable, 
modern  languages,  or  our  own,  would  more  usefully  occupy  that 
position. 

First,  with  regard  to  the  modern  languages.  Their  eminent 
claims  to  a  high  place  in  our  curriculum  are  at  once  admitted. 
They  have  a  great  practical  value  as  languages :  and  their  litera- 
tures are  brilliant  and  attractive,  and  fraught  with  modern  interest. 
Both  French  and  German,  too,  have  affinities  with  English,  the 
one  as  being  a  daughter  of  that  paternal  stock  from  which  we 
derive  so  much,  and  the  other,  as  belonging  to  the  great  Teutonic 
family  of  languages,  of  which  ours  is  also  a  member.  Then,  in 


THE   CURRICULUM   OF  MODERN   EDUCATION.  271 

consequence  of  the  increasing  intercourse  between  nations,  they 
are  becoming  every  day  more  and  more  useful ;  and  lastly,  involving 
as  they  do  many  of  the  advantages  claimed  for  Latin,  they  are 
much  more  easily  and  rapidly  acquired.  These  are  valid  reasons 
for  admission  into  the  curriculum,  but  not  for  taking  the  leading 
place  in  it.  As  to  French,  so  many  of  its  words  resemble  our 
own,  and  its  construction  is  apparently  so  simple  and  transparent, 
that  a  pupil  is  tempted  to  guess  or  scramble  at  the  meaning, 
rather  than  carefully  approach  it  by  thoughtful  consideration,  as 
he  must  do  in  Latin.  Without  dwelling  on  this  as  an  evil  in 
itself,  I  must  insist  on  it  as  a  great  disadvantage  in  a  training 
subject.  A  certain  amount  of  resistance,  enough  to  encourage 
effort,  and  not  enough  to  intimidate,  is  an  advantage  rather  than 
otherwise  to  the  pupil.  It  serves  to  detain  him  awhile  in  face  of 
the  difficulty,  and  gives  him  the  opportunity  of  estimating  both  it 
and  the  resources  with  which  past  experience  has  furnished  him 
for  its  solution,  and  thus  trains  the  mind  to  encounter  success- 
fully other  difficulties.  On  the  other  hand,  as  we  avowedly  learn 
French  and  German  more  for  practical  than  literary  purposes, 
more  as  means  than  ends,  the  less  resistance  we  meet  with,  the 
more  rapid  the  acquisition,  the  better.  The  training  subject  is, 
however,  in  a  certain  sense,  the  end  itself ;  and  losing  time  in 
acquiring  it  may  be  an  ultimate  gain.  The  same  general  remarks 
apply,  though  less  strictly,  to  German,  which  I  have  recommended 
as  a  substitute  for  Greek. 

Secondly,  as  to  the  claims  of  English  to  occupy  the  leading 
place.  The  main  objection  to  this  claim,  as  far  as  the  language 
itself  if  concerned,  is  that  we  are,  as  is  sometimes  said  of  a 
material  object,  too  near  to  see  it.  We  must  stand  at  some  dis- 
tance from  it,  in  order  to  comprehend  its  form  and  features  or,  which 
is  often  easier,  study  the  form  and  features  of  something  else  of  the 
same  kind,  and  then  apply  the  knowledge  thus  gained  to  the  case 
in  point.  Those  who  ask  us  to  study  the  general  principles  of 
grammar  by  the  acknowledgment  of  all  so  valuable,  in  our  own 
language  first,  pretend  that  they  are  substituting  the  easy  for  the 
difficult ;  but  it  is  not  so.  The  real  difficulty  is  to  abstract  the 
clear  and  transparent  medium  in  which  our  ideas  circulate,  and  to 
view  it  by  itself.  So  with  the  study  of  human  nature  ;  obvious  as 
it  seems  to  look  at  home,  to  know  ourselves,  to  watch  the  opera- 
tions of  our  own  hearts  and  minds,  yet  general  experience  admits 
that  it  is  far  easier  to  gather  its  principles  from  observing  the 
actions  of  other  men  projected,  as  it  were,  before  our  view,  and 


272  THE  CURRICULUM  OF  MODERN   EDUCATION. 

favorably  adapted  for  our  examination.  Our  own  language,  then, 
is  to  be  the  object,  rather  than  the  means,  of  our  pupil's  training. 
Throughout  his  entire  course  his  training  in  another  language  is 
preparing  him  most  effectually  to  learn  his  own,  and  the  practical 
application  of  the  disciplinary  power  should  keep  pace  with  its 
attainment. 

Another  objection  against  the  spirit  of  the  method  I  would 
recommend  has  been  taken,  and  may  be  deserving  of  a  brief  treat- 
ment. It  is  said  that  much  of  what  I  have  described  is  simply 
"drill,"  and  that  it  is  absurd  to  spend  a  great  amount  of  labor 
on  mental  gymnastics,  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  discipline,  while 
by  taking  up  a  more  suitable  subject,  we  may  get  both  discipline 
and  knowledge  together.  Why,  says  the  objector,  make  a  post- 
man, who  has  to  walk  about  all  day,  go  through  a  preliminary 
drill  every  morning,  since  he  gets  his  exercise  in  his  work  ?  * 
And  the  argument  seems  to  be,  that  exercise  for  the  direct  purpose 
of  developing  power,  which  may  be  developed  by  ordinary  action, 
is  undesirable.  Without  attempting  a  full  reply  to  this  objection, 
I  would  however  suggest,  in  the  first  place,  that  if  logically  carried 
out,  it  would  abolish  education  altogether.  If  the  ordinary  spon- 
taneous action  is  sufficient,  teaching  is  tyrann}-,  for  it  implies  that 
the  pupil  must  be  constrained.  Why  not  allow  the  child  to  wander 
about  and  play  from  morning  to  night,  "  at  his  own  sweet  will'?  " 
His  senses  and  his  thoughts  will  be  employed  in  some  way  or 
another,  and  practice  will  make  perfect.  No  teacher,  however, 
adopts  such  principles  as  these,  nor  are  they  worthy  of  serious 
refutation.  Secondly,  I  would  remark  that  the  practice  of  all 
professed  trainers,  whether  of  men  or  animals,  refutes  the  objec- 
tion. In  order  to  make  a  soldier,  it  is  generally  thought  well  to 
keep  him  on  the  parade  ground  a  long  time,  doing  goose  or  other 
steps,  which  he  is  not  to  use  at  all  after  the  training  is  over.  So 
it  is  with  music,  dancing,  riding,  rowing,  and  other  accomplish- 
ments, in  which  the  training  exercises  are  the  essence  of  the 
teaching.  The  teachers  of  these  arts  consider  practice  so  valuable, 
so  indispensable,  as  a  means  to  the  end  they  have  in  view,  the 
attainment  of  complete  command  over  them,  that  they  recommend 
constant  repetition  of  the  same  exercise  until  it  is  thoroughly 
mastered,  rather  than  rapid  advancement  to  the  next  stage  of 
knowledge  ;  so  that  for  a  while — to  the  horror  of  the  objectors  just 
quoted  —  they  treat  the  means  as  if  they  were  the  end.  The  usual 

*  See  Atkinson's  pamphlet,  before  quoted,  p.  33. 


THE   CURRICULUM   OF   MODERN  EDUCATION.  273 

success  of  this  policy  may  perhaps  bo  allowed  to  pass  as  an  argument 
for  its  continuance.  This  view,  of  course,  does  not  satisfy  those  who 
think  that  everything  should  be  made  pleasant  to  a  child  —  that 
he  should  have  no  experience  of  difficulty,  or  trial,  or  ennui.* 
Such  is  not,  however,  the  spirit  of  the  old  system.  We  consider 
that  the  man  who  has  not  encountered  and  overcome  difficulties  is 
only  half  a  man.  Nor  would  we  be  so  little  friendly  to  the  child 
as  to  remove  them  all  from  his  path,  and  leave  him  unwarned  and 
unprepared  for  those  which  he  must  meet  with  in  his  journey  through 
life.  If  the  result  of  the  training  be  that  the  pupil  comes  forth 
from  it  firm  in  mind  and  limb,  robust  and  well  developed,  in  per- 
fect health  and  capable  of  enduring  fatigue,  we  may  be  well 
contented  with  these  as  the  results  of  the  process  he  has  gone 
through. 

And  now,  before  closing  my  paper,  I  would  make  a  few  remarks 
on  the  pretensions  of  science  to  supersede  —  for  that  is  what  some 
reformers  aim  at  —  the  classical  training  of  our  schools.  I  have 
shown  1113'  appreciation  of  the  great  value  of  science,  not  only  in 
itself,  but  as  a  means  of  education  ;  but  I  confess  that  I  have  not, 
never  having  been  enlightened  on  this  point,  a  clear  idea  of  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  to  be  taught,  so  as  to  be  a  real  mental 
discipline  in  schools.  Those  gentlemen  —  one  of  whom  we  proudly 
include  in  the  governing  body  of  our  College  —  who  a  few  years 
ago,  at  the  Royal  Institution,  pleaded  so  eloquently  the  claims  of 
chemistry, f  physics,  philology,  physiology,  and  economic  science, 
to  be  adopted  in  the  curriculum  as  branches  of  education  for  all 
classes,  meant  of  course  that  all  these  subjects  were  to  be  intro- 
duced. Even  lately,  two  gentlemen,  every  way  competent  to  speak 
upon  the  subject,  have  urged  in  this  room  the  claims  of  botany  and 
zoology  as  branches  of  education  for  all  classes.  We  have,  then 
—  breaking  up  Professor  Tyndall's  "physics"  into  mechanics, 
hydrostatics,  optics,  pneumatics,  sound,  heat,  &c.,  some  fifteen  or 
twenty  subjects  claiming  admission  into  the  school  curriculum.  I 
again  ask,  how  arc  they  to  be  taught?  Each  of  these  accomplished 

*  This  too  «l8  one  of  the  notions  of  Mr.  Spencer.    Everything  In  to  be  made  eiu«y  and 
delightful.     He  forgets  that  this  Is  not  really  consistent  with  his  own  Idea  of  education  iu>  ft 
preparalion  for  life.     A  practical  teacher  would  roinind  him  of  the  established  dictum,  <>n  n« 
n'instruit  pas  en  s'amusant.    Every  study  Is,  Indeed,  to  be  rendered  interf*ting  to  the  pupil. 
The  work  of  the  teacher  fails  If  he  does  not  accomplish  this.    The  apt  teacher,  however,  sue- 
ceeds,  not  by  amusing  his  pupil,  but  by  sympathizing  with  him  and  thus  Dining  hi 
dcnce  —  by  understanding  and  entering  Into  his  difficulties  —  by  encouraging  him  w 
or  look,  when  he  is  puzzled,  —  never  Intruding  help  when  It  is  not  needed,  never  with 
it  when  it  Is. 

t  The  lectures  were  d.-llvered  by  Drs.  \Vhewell,  Faraday,  Latham,  Daubeny,  and  I 
and  Messrs.  Tyndall  and  Paget. 


274  THE   CURRICULUM  OF   MODERN  EDUCATION. 

men  of  course  considers  his  own  special  subject  as  worthy  of  every 
attention,  and  would  not  be  satisfied  with  the  communication  of  a 
mere  smattering  of  it  as  representing  his  idea  of  its  value.     "Would 
any  one  of  them  be  contented  to  hand  over  his  subject  to  either 
Mr.  Bentham  or  Mr.  Spencer  to  teach?     Certainly   not.     They 
would  all  wish  the  subjects  which  they  know  so  well,  which  they 
appreciate  so  highly,  and  on  which  they  have  expended  so  much 
thought  and  labor  themselves,  to  be  thoroughly  taught  —  to  be- 
come a  real  possession  of  the  pupil.     But  how  is  this  to  be  done  ? 
That  is  the  question,  the  satisfactory  solution  of  which  will  do 
more  to  advance  the  claims  of  science  to  admission  into  the  curri- 
culum than  all  the  arguments  that  have  hitherto  been  adduced. 
We  hear  the  pleadings  in  favor  of  each  fair  claimant  for  our  re- 
gard, as  she  appears  before  us,  —  we  admire  her  charms,  —  we 
admire  all  the  charmers,  —  but  we  cannot  marry  them  all ;    we 
cannot  take  them  all  for  better,  for  worse,  to  have  and  to  hold,  &c. 
What,  then,  are  we  to  do?    We  not  only  admit,  but  claim,  the 
aid  of  science  in  education.    That  general  enlightenment  —  that  apt 
handling  of  business  —  "faculty,"  as  some  people  call  it;   that 
appreciation  of  cause  and  effec-t ;  that  comprehension  of  details 
under  general  laws  ;  these,  which  are  the  proper  fruits  of  scientific 
culture,   would    form    the   best   corrective   of   Literature,    would 
simplify  and  give  a  definite  aim  to  her  somewhat  vague,  though 
noble,  aspirations.     But  the  question  returns,  How  is  science  to  be 
taught?     It  will  not  be  pretended  that  the  scientific  mind  is  formed 
by  a  lecture  once  a  week  on  electricity  or  chemistry,  as  the  case 
may  be,  nor  by  the  occasional  cramming  of  a  text-book  on  the 
subject.    The  advocates  of  science  mean  something  far  transcend- 
ing this,  or  they  mean  just  notlu'ug.     But  I  am  compelled  to  say 
that  their  utterances  on  the   practical    part  of   the  subject  are 
singularly  vague  and  unsatisfactory.     "  Teach  science,"  they  say  ; 
but  then  Professor  Huxley  does  not  mean,  teach  Pneumatics,  he 
means,  teach  Physiology.   Professor  Tyndall  means  by  these  words, 
Physics,  and  not  Botany,  and  so  on.     Each  thinks,  and  naturally 
enough,  that  his  own  special  subject  is  the  one  to  be  taught,  and 
therefore   the   general   recommendation  involves  the  teaching  of 
them    all,    and  we  come  back  to  the  Chrestomathic  idea  which, 
presented  pur  el  simple  to  these  authorities  in  science,  would  be 
indignantly  rejected.     I  have  read  with  much  interest  the  evidence 
given   before   the   late  Commission  on  Public  Schools,  by  those 
eminent  men,  Carpenter,  Lyell,  Faraday,  Hooker,  Owen,  Airey, 
and  Acland.     Whatever  such  men  say  must,  of  course,  be  interest- 


THE  CURRICULUM   OF  MODERN  EDUCATION.  275 

ing ;  but  I  confess  that  the  impression  left  on  my  mind  was  not 
that  of  profound  admiration  for  their  practical  "  faculty."  Their 
remarks  and  suggestions  —  very  valuable,  no  doubt,  as  "hints" 

—  leave  the  real  difficulties  of  teaching  science  in  schools  un- 
touched ;  and  indeed  will  be  found  so  various  and  inconsistent  as 
frequently  to  neutralize  one  another.     With  very  few  exceptions, 
these  eminent  men  scarcely  seem  to  have  perceived,  or  at  least 
appreciated,  the  fundamental  principle,  that  teaching  science  does 
not  mean  teaching  electricity,  or  optics,  or  chemistry,  or  geolog}-, 
but  training  the  mind  to  scientific  method;    and  that  if   all  the 
"ologies,"  from  A  to  Z,  are  to  have  a  chance  of  occupying  the 
field,  a  general  m&Ue  will  be  the  result,   which  will  effectually 
frustrate  the  object.    In  that  case,  all  the  sciences  might  be  taught 

—  if  that  is  the  word  for  it  —  but  science  would  not  be  learned. 
Dr.  Aclaud's  evidence  is,  however,  very  much  to  the  point.     He 
had  clearly  given  thought  to  the  subject,  and  handled  it  like  a 
man  of  business.     He  recommended  that  Physics,  Chemistry,  and 
PLysiology  should  be  required  of  all  educated  men,  and  that  the 
two  former  should  be  learnt  at  school.     When  reminded,  however, 
that  the  Matriculation  Examination  of   the  London  University 
comprised  these  and  other  cognate  subjects,  he  gave  an  opinion, 
in  which  I  confess  I  agree,  upon  the  value  of  such  scientific  teach- 
ing as  that  examination  pre-supposcs.     It  is  so  much  to  the  point 
that  I  will  quote  it :  —  "I  may  say,  generally,  that  I  should  value 
all  knowledge  of  these  physical  sciences  very  little  indeed  unless 
it  was  otherwise  than  book-work.     If  it  is  merely  a  question  of 
getting  up  certain  books,  and  being  able  to  answer  certain  book- 
questions,  that  is  merely  an  exercise  of  the  memory  of  a  very 
useless  kind.     The  great  object,  though  not  the  sole  object,  of 
the  training  should  be  to  get  the  boys  to  observe  and  understand 
the  action  of  matter  in  some  department  or  another,  and  though  I 
am  perfectly  aware  that  what  is  called  practical  knowledge,  if 
merely  manipulatory,  on  any  subject  whatever,  is  a  humble  thing 
enough ;    yet,    on  the   other   hand,  I  must  say  that  the   utmost 
amount  of  knowledge  on  these  subjects,  without  that  practical  and 
experimental  knowledge,  is  to  most   persons   nearly  as  useless. 
You  want  the  combination  of  the  two ;   and  for  youths,  I  value 
very  little  the  mere  acquisition  of  a  quantity  of  book-facts  on  these 
subjects.     I  want  them  to  see  and  know  the  things,  and  in  that 
way  they  will  evoke  many  qualities  of  the  mind  which  the  study 
of  these  subjects  is  intended  to  develop."     Thus  speaks  the  true 
teacher  and  votary  of  science.     His  anxiety  is  to  form  the  scien- 


276     THE  CURRICULUM  OF  MODERN  EDUCATION. 

tific  mind,  not  merely  to  communicate  information  on  science. 
From  a  great  part  of  the  evidence  of  the  men  whose  names  I  just 
quoted  you  can  only  gather  a  commentary,  by  "  eminent  hands  " 
certainly,  on  the  text,  "That  the  soul  be  without  knowledge,  it  is 
not  good;"  which  —  though  not  a  Solomon  myself  —  I  would 
supplement  by  adding,  "  That  the  soul  attempt  to  grasp  all  knowl- 
edge, is  not  wise." 

Dr.  Aclaud,  it  will  be  observed,  recommends  that  chemistry  be 
adopted  as  a  general  study ;  and  from  some  little  opportunity  I 
have  had  of  seeing  that  this  subject  may,  to  a  certain  extent,  be 
adopted  into  the  school  course,  I  should  have  thought  it  a  wise 
suggestion.  But  observe  what  a  practical  teacher  of  chemistry  on 
a  large  scale,  Dr.  Volcker,  of  the  Cirencester  Agricultural  College, 
says  on  this  point :  — 

"As  an  educational  means,  "he  says,  in  a  letter  published  by  Mr.  T.  Dyke 
Acland,  in  a  document  prepared  by  the  latter  for  the  Commission, 
"  chemistry  is  not  to  be  compared  with  other  means  of  training  the  mind. 
.  .  .  The  direct  benefit  resulting  from  the  teaching  of  analytical  chem- 
istry in  schools  is  nil.  ...  I  grant  that  two  or  three  boys  out  of  fifty 
may  be  benefited  by  practical  instruction  in  experimental  and  analytical 
chemistry ;  but  am  also  bound  to  add,  that  the  rest  only  waste  the  time 
which  may  be  more  usefully  employed.  This  is  the  result,  not  only  of  my 
own  personal  experience,  but  also  that  of  many  of  my  scientific  friends  in 
this  country,  at  least  of  those  who  love  science  and  desire  its  prosperity. 
Moreover,  I  would  direct  your  attention  to  the  fact,  that  the  attempt  has 
been  made  in  Germany,  on  a  large  scale,  to  teach  chemistry  practically 
in  schools  for  lads  under  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  has  proved  so  complete 
a  failure,  that  it  has  been  all  but  universally  abandoned  in  my  native 
country." 

It  appears,  then,  that  there  are  difficulties  in  the  way  of  teach- 
ing science,  even  where  the  subject  is  well  chosen,  the  field  com- 
paratively limited,  and  the  means  and  appliances  amply  provided. 
Dr.  Volcker' s  cold  and  dry  experience  does  not  perfectly  accord 
with  Mr.  Spencer's  enthusiastic  theory,  and  does  not  go  to  prove 
that  children  eagerly  hunger  after  scientific  knowledge  as  they  do 
after  their  daily  food.  Of  course  it  is  easy  to  throw  the  blame  of 
failure  on  the  teacher ;  but  Dr.  Volcker's  words  are  too  definite,  and 
apply  to  too  large  an  area  to  admit  of  this.  Still,  there  can  be  no 
manner  of  doubt  that  science  is  immensely  attractive ;  that  it  is 
favored  by  the  spirit  of  the  age  ;  and  that  it  will  and  ought  to  be 
extensively  taught  in  schools.  But  its  educational  advocates  have, 
as  yet,  no  practical  plan  involving  good  scientific  discipline,  and  no 
well  digested  results,  to  show.  Their  voice  will  be  powerful  enough 


THE   CURRICULUM   OF  MODERN  EDUCATION.  277 

when  they  have,  ami  will  command  the  attention  of  all.  As  the 
case  now  stands,  we  have  practice  on  the  one  side,  and  theory  on 
the  other.  An  amount  of  experience  which  no  one  can  effectually 
gainsay  attests  the  value  of  the  Classical  training ;  while  an 
amount  of  theoretical  plausibility,  which  no  sane  man  can  affect  to 
despise,  supports  the  claims  of  science  to  a  trial.  Why  should 
there  not  be  a  compromise  ?  Intellectual  education  is  strictly  the 
training  of  all  the  mental  faculties  in  the  best  way.  Science 
teaches  better,  that  is,  more  directly  and  thoroughly,  than  any 
other  study,  how  to  observe,  how  to  arrange  and  classify,  how  to 
connect  causes  with  effects,  how  to  estimate  the  practical  value  of 
facts.  Why  not  adopt  it  then  as  the  proper  complement  of  the 
literai*y  element?  Let  botany  be  taught  quite  early  in  life, — in 
the  first  stage  of  instruction,  —  together  with  such  parts  of  physics 
as  give  general  views  of  science,  and  interest  the  mind  in  it.  In 
the  second  stage,  let  some  one  or  two  branches  of  physics  be  taken 
as  the  basis  of  a  sound  training  in  science,  with  a  view  to  the 
formation  of  the  really  scientific  mind.*  The  classical  course 
would  thrive  the  better  for  the  collateral  study  of  science,  and  the 
scientific  would  thrive  the  better  for  the  classical.  Why  should 
not  both  work  harmoniously  together  in  the  curriculum? 

The  principle  appears  to  be  sound  in  general,  that  the  spirit  of 
the  age  should  be  represented  in  the  education  of  our  schools  ;  — 
this  is  the  reforming  element  of  the  question.  At  the  same  time 
it  seems  equally  reasonable  that  we  should  not  forego  our  hold  on 
that  mighty  past  of  which  the  present  is  the  legitimate  offspring ; 

—  and  this  is  the  conservative  element.     It  is  well  for  the  son, 
when  prepared  for  the  world  of  life,  to  leave  his  father's  home 
and  create  one  for  himself.     It  is  not  well  that  he  should  do  so 
too  early,  before  he  is  prepared.     Physical  science  may  become 

—  probably  is  destined  to  become  —  the  organic  representative  of 
the  civilization  of  the  age.    At  present  it  cannot  be  so  considered  ; 
and  its  claims,  therefore,  to  take  the  lead  in  the  curriculum  of  edu- 
cation are  inadmissible.     While  it  is  laboring  to  attain  that  posi- 
tion, I  would  advise  its  votaries  to  aid  those  of  classical  instruction 
in  securing  the  great  advantages  of  the  training  I  have  recom- 
mended.    The  minds  so  prepared  would  lie  the  fittest  of  all  for 
sharing  in  the  researches  of  science,  and  promoting  its  triumphs. 

*  Bee  appendix,  E. 


APPENDIX. 


A.    (See  page  247.) 

In  a  very  interesting  address  of  Lord  Ashburton's,  at  the  Meeting  of 
Schoolmasters  in  Manchester,  in  1853,  we  find  the  following  remarkable 
words :  —  "In  this  progressive  country  we  neglect  all  that  knowledge  in 
which  there  is  progress,  to  devote  ourselves  to  those  branches  in  which  we 
are  scarcely,  if  at  all,  superior  to  our  ancestors.  In  this  practical  country, 
the  knowledge  of  all  that  gives  power  over  nature  is  left  to  be  picked  up  by 
chance  on  a  man's  way  through  life.  In  this  religious  country,  the  knowl- 
edge of  God's  works  forms  no  part  of  the  education  of  the  people,  no  part 
even  of  the  accomplishments  of  a  gentleman."  It  appears  from  this  pas- 
sage that  Lord  Ashburton  does,  after  all,  consider  this  to  be  a  progressive, 
practical,  and  religious  country,  though  nothing  would  seem  to  be  done  to 
make  it  so.  The  work  goes  on,  and  bravely  too,  in  spite  of  the  assumed 
general  low  level  of  attainments,  and  the  indifference  with  regard  to  prog- 
ress. Lord  Achburton  does  not  see  that  there  is,  in  fact,  no  ' '  common 
measure "  between  the  progress  of  a  nation  and  that  of  an  individual. 
The  time  may  come  when  the  progress  of  knowledge  and  the  practical 
applications  of  it  may  be  tenfold  what  they  now  are.  But  we  shall  still 
have  to  consider  the  average  capacity  of  the  race  as  a  "  constant  quantity," 
and  frame  our  curriculum  accordingly.  The  progress  in  question  arises 
from  the  impulses  generated  in  the  minds  of  those  who,  being  endowed 
beyond  their  fellows,  stand  forth  as  their  leaders  to  the  promised  land ;  but 
the  common  mass  have  to  begin  at  the  beginning  still  in  their  instruction, 
just  as  if  none  had  gone  before  them. 


B.     (See  page  258.) 

The  following  valuable  remarks  on  the  cultivation  of  the  observing  powers 
are  from  an  "  Introductory  Lecture"  on  the  Educational  Uses  of  Museums, 
by  the  late  Professor  Edward  Forbes,  1865 :  — 

"  The  great  defect  of  our  systems  of  education  is  the  neglect  of  the  edu- 
cating of  the  observing  powers  —  a  very  distinct  matter,  be  it  noted,  from 
scientific  or  industrial  instruction.  It  is  necessary  to  say  this,  since  the 
confounding  of  the  two  is  evident  in  many  of  the  documents  that  have  been 
published  of  late  on  these  very  important  subjects.  Many  persons  seem  to 
fancy  that  the  elements  that  should  constitute  a  sound  and  manly  educa- 
tion are  antagonistic ;  that  the  cultivation  of  taste  through  purely  literary 
studies,  and  of  reasoning  through  logic  and  mathematics,  one  or  both,  is 
opposed  to  the  training  in  the  equally  important  matter  of  observation 
through  those  sciences  that  are  descriptive  and  experimental.  Surely  this 
is  an  error.  Partisanship  of  the  one  or  other  method,  or  rather  depart- 
ment, of  mental  training,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  rest,  is  a  narrow-minded 
and  cramping  view,  from  whatsoever  point  it  be  taken.  Equal  develop- 


THE   CURRICULUM   OF   MODERN   EDUCATION.  279 

ment  and  strengthening  of  all  are  required  for  the  constitution  of  the  com- 
plete mind ;  and  it  is  full  time  that  we  should  begin  to  do  now  what  we 
ought  to  have  done  long  ago." 


C.    (See  page  263.) 

"The  purpose  of  Milton,  as  it  seems,  was  to  teach  something  more  solid 
than  the  common  literature  of  schools,  by  reading  those  authors  that  treat 
of  physical  subjects,  such  as  the  georgic  (i.  e.  agricultural)  and  astronomi- 
cal treatises  of  the  ancients.  This  was  a  scheme  of  improvement  which 
seems  to  have  busied  many  literary  projectors  of  that  age.  Cowley,  who 
had  more  means  than  Milton  of  knowing  what  was  wanting  in  the  embellish- 
ments of  life,  formed  the  same  plan  of  education  in  his  imaginary  college. 

"  But  the  truth  is,  that  the  knowledge  of  external  nature,  and  the  sciences 
which  that  knowledge  requires  or  includes,  are  not  the  great  or  the  fre- 
quent business  of  the  human  mind.  Whether  we  provide  for  action  or 
conversation,  whether  we  wish  to  be  useful  or  pleasing,  the  first  requisite 
is  the  religious  and  moral  knowledge  of  right  and  wrong ;  the  next  is  an 
acquaintance  with  the  history  of  mankind,  and  with  those  examples  which 
may  be  said  to  embody  truth  and  prove  by  events  the  reasonableness  of 
opinions.  Prudence  and  justice  are  virtues  and  excellencies  of  all  times 
and  of  all  places ;  we  are  perpetually  moralists,  but  we  are  geometricians 
only  by  chance.  Our  intercourse  with  intellectural  nature  is  necessary; 
our  speculations  upon  matter  are  voluntary  and  at  leisure.  Physiological 
(physical?)  learning  is  of  such  rare  emergence  that  a  man  may  know 
another  half  his  life  without  being  able  to  estimate  his  skill  in  hydrostatics 
or  astronomy :  but  his  moral  and  prudential  character  immediately  appears. 
Those  authors,  therefore,  are  to  be  read  at  schools  that  supply  most 
maxims  of  prudence,  most  principles  of  moral  truth,  and  most  materials 
for  conversation ;  and  these  purposes  are  best  served  by  poets,  orators  and 
historians."  (Johnson's  "Lives  of  Poets,"  vol.  i.,  p.  92.) 


D.    (See  page  267.) 

Merely  as  a  suggestion,  the  following  scheme  for  the  study  of  Latin  may 
be  proposed :  — 

1.  Dr.  W.  Smith's  Principia  Latina,  Parts  I.  and  IL 

2.  Ceesar—  De  Bello  Gallico. 

3.  Virgil  —  Eclogro,  books  1,  3,  4,  and  5. 

Georgica,  books  1  and  2. 
JEneis,  books  1,  2,  3,  6,  and  12. 

4.  Cicero  —  Oratio  pro  Milone. 

Onitiones  in  Catilinom. 
De  Amicitia. 
6.  Livy,  books  1  and  21. 

6.  Terence  —  Andria. 

7.  Tacitus  —  Agricola. 

Annales.  books  1  and  2. 
1.  Horace  —  Odee,  Epistolse,  and  Are  Poetica. 

This  matter  should  be  thoroughly  studied  in  the  spirit  of  the  method 
described  in  the  text  (pp.  262-268),and  would  require  therefore  to  be  gone 


280  THE  CURRICULUM   OF   MODERN   EDUCATION. 

over,  parts  of  it  at  least  —  the  Caesar  and  Virgil  —  three  times  :  first  very 
slowly,  weighing  and  investigating  nearly  every  word ;  the  second  time 
less  deliberately,  improving  the  translation  and  enlarging  the  illustration ; 
and  the  third  time  rapidly  and  in  good  English,  so  as  to  evince  familiarity 
with  both  language  and  matter.  The  passages  from  Virgil  and  Horace 
should  be  committed  to  memory. 


E.     (See  page  277.) 
Subjoined  is  a  scheme  of  an  amended  curriculum :  — 

FIKST  STAGE  OF  INSTRUCTION; 

(From  about  eighth  twelve  years  of  age.) 

First  Division  (about  two  years). 

1.  Beading,  Spelling,  and  "Writing. 

2.  History,  Scriptural  and  English. 

3.  Geography,  Topographical  and  Physical. 

4.  French,  Elementary  Speaking  and  Beading. 

5.  Lessons  on  Objects. 

6.  Lessons  on  "Words. 

7.  Arithmetic,  chiefly  mental. 

Second  Division  (about  two  years). 
Same  subjects  as  far  as  may  be  necessary,  with  - 

1.  Arithmetic,  as  an  art  generally. 

2.  Botany,  Structural  and  Systematic. 

3.  Elementary  Physics,  general  facts  and  phenomena. 

4.  English  Grammar,  Parsing  and  Analysis  of  Sentences. 

SECOND  STAGE  OP  INSTRUCTION. 
(From  about  twelve  to  sixteen  years  of  age.) 

First  Division  (about  two  years.) 

Proportion  of 
time,  taking 
40  hours  pur 

week  for 
school-work. 

1.  Latin,  taught  as  a  training  subject 20 

2.  French  and  German,  practical  mainly 5 

3.  Mathematics,  especially  Euclid       5 

4.  Physics,  taught  as  a  training  subject       5 

6.  English  Language  and  Literature 5 

Second  Division  (about  two  years). 

1.  Latin  (time  diminished) 10 

2.  French  and  German  (time  increased  for  more  composi- 

tion)          10 

3.  Mathematics  —  analytical,   with  practical  applications  5 

4.  Chemistry  or  Human  Physiology 10 

5.  English  Language  and  Literature 5 

Of  course  "Latin  "and  "  English  "  both  include  the  subjects — such  as 
geography,  history,  archaeology  —  which  may  be  necessary  for  their  illus- 
tration. 


ON  THE 


IMPORTANCE  AND  NECESSITY 


OF 


IMPROVING  OUR  ORDINARY  METHODS  OF 
SCHOOL  INSTRUCTION. 


A  Paper  read  at  a  Sessional  Meeting  of  the  Social 
Science  Association. 


ON  THE 


IMPORTANCE   AND    NECESSITY  OF  IMPROVING  OUR 
ORDINARY  METHODS  OF  SCHOOL  INSTRUCTION.* 


IT  is  a  fair  proposition  that  the  value  of  a  given  system  of 
means,  professedly  adapted  to  secure  a  certain  end,  ought  to  be 
judged  of  by  the  results  obtained  through  its  ordinary  working. 
These  are,  in  fact,  the  test  or  measure  of  its  efficiency  ;  and  if  either 
in  quantity  or  quality  they  fall  greatly  short  of  the  calculated 
estimate,  we  decide  that  the  system  of  means  —  the  machinery  in 
question — whatever  may  be  its  intrinsic  theoretical  value,  is  on  the 
whole,  a  failure.  In  speaking,  however,  of  results  of  machinery,  it 
must  be  distinctly  understood  that  we  speak  of  average  results,  and 
that  the  occurrence  of  extraordinary  instances  of  success  does  not 
affect  the  general  conclusion.  It  is  obviously  possible  that  these 
may  be  due  to  unusually  favorable  circumstances  not  contemplated 
by  the  theory  of  the  machine,  and  therefore  not  due  to  its  ordinary 
action.  If,  then,  taking  into  account  the  entire  working  of  any 
machine,  we  find  that  it  fails  more  frequently  than  it  succeeds,  we 
have  a  right  to  say  that  the  failures,  not  the  successes,  represent  its 
true  character,  and  hence  to  conclude  either  that  the  theory  on 
which  it  is  constructed  is  erroneous,  and  that  it  ought  therefore  to 
fail ;  or  that  being  good  in  theory,  it  fails  because  it  is  unskilfully 
worked.  It  is  further  possible  that  both  these  assumptions  may  be 
true ;  that  the  theory  of  construction  may  be  erroneous,  and  the 
practical  working  of  it  unskilful. 

Applying  this  illustration  to  our  educational  machinery  generally, 
I  fear  it  will  be  found  that  both  allegations  are  well  founded  ;  that 
the  theory  which  underlies  the  greater  part  of  our  practice  is 
unsound,  and  that  the  practice  is,  generally  speaking,  unskilful, 
and  therefore  inefficient. 

To  discuss  the  theory  of  education  generally  is  not  my  immediate 
object.  I  have  considered  it  at  some  length  in  a  lecture  on  the 

*  Head  Monday,  June  3d,  1872. 


284  ON  IMPROVING   OUR  METHODS 

*»  Science  of  Education,"  delivered  before  the  College  of  Pre- 
ceptors, and  to  discuss  it  fully  now  would  interfere  with  the 
business  before  us.  It  is  sufficient  for  my  present  purpose  to 
enunciate  in  general  terms,  that  intellectual  education  —  the  branch 
of  the  subject  which  immediately  concerns  us  —  appears  to  consist 
in  the  development  and  training,  by  means  of  instruction,  of  the 
active  powers  of  the  pupil's  mind,  with  a  view  to  the  attainment 
of  knowledge  and  the  formation  of  habits  of  thinking.  If  this 
view  of  education  is  correct,  it  must,  of  course,  be  applicable 
wherever  the  process  of  teaching  is  going  on,  and  therefore  to 
every  kind  of  instruction,  and  to  every  class  of  pupils.  The  man 
who  keeps  these  objects  steadily  in  view,  and  systematically  aims 
at  securing  them,  is  a  teacher  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term. 
He,  on  the  other  hand,  who,  from  ignorance  of  the  nature  of  the 
mind  with  which  he  is  dealing,  or  from  ignorance  of  the  resonrces 
of  his  art,  so  operates  as  to  quench  rather  than  quicken  intelligence 
—  a  frequent  result  of  teaching  —  may  bear  the  same  conventional 
name,  but  belongs  to  a  different  class  from  the  other.  Dr.  Hodgson 
tells  us  that  at  a  meeting  of  this  Association,  some  years  ago,  he 
heard  one  of  the  school  inspectors  declare  that  at  certain  schools  he 
could  tell  pretty  accurately  by  the  pupils'  faces  how  long  they  had 
been  at  school.  The  longer  the  period,  the  more  stupid,  vjfcant, 
and  expressionless  the  face.* 

Without,  however,  dwelling  longer  at  present  on  theory,  I  shall 
now  endeavor  to  show,  by  facts,  that  the  average  results  of  our 
instruction,  whether  in  primary,  middle-class,  or  public  schools, 
answer  neither  to  the  demands  of  the  theory  of  education  that  I 
have  suggested,  nor  to  those  of  any  theory  which  is  worth  the 
name  (for  all  practice  involves  a  theory  of  some  kind),  and  that 
they  show  conclusively  the  importance,  and,  indeed,  the  necessity 
of  some  improvement  in  our  ordinary  methods  of  school  in- 
struction. 

We  notice,  first,  the  results  of  primary  instruction.  It  would 
be  absurd,  in  this  case,  to  apply  our  theoretical  definition  of  educa- 
tion. It  is  not  even  conceived,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  by  the  syllabus 
of  the  Education  Department,  that  the  children  of  our  primary 
schools  shall  have  their  minds  trained  at  all.  Not  a  syllable 
appears  in  the  instruction  to  lead  us  to  infer  that  teaching  has  any- 
thing whatever  to  do  with  mind ;  the  word  even  does  not  occur 

*  "  Exaggerated  Estimates  of  Heading  and  Writing";  a  Paper  read  at  the  Belfast  meeting 
of  the  Association,  1867. 


OF  SCHOOL  INSTRUCTION.  285 

What  we  do  see  is,  that  certain  processes,  which  we  may  fitly  call 
"  grindings,"  are  to  be  gone  through,  and  that  the  quantity  rather 
than  the  quality  of  the  grist  is  to  be  periodically  examined.  All, 
indeed,  that  is  demanded  by  the  actual  theory  —  if  we  may  give  it 
such  a  name —  of  primary  instruction  is  that  children  (from  the 
age  of  six  to  ten),  shall  during  the  average  term  of  four  years  of 
instruction  be  qualified  to  pass  the  fourth  standard  of  the  Revised 
or  New  Code;  i.  e.,  that  they  shall  be  able  (I  quote  from  the 
authorized  instructions),  (1)  to  "  read  a  few  lines  of  poetry  or 
prose;"  (2)  "to  write  a  sentence,  slowly,  dictated  once  by  a 
few  words  at  a  time,  from  a  reading-book  used  in  the  first  class 
of  the  school;"  (3)  to  work  sums  "in  the  compound  rules 
(common  weights  and  measures)  of  arithmetic."  This  is  all  that 
is  really  required  by  our  petty  and  ignominious  theory  of  primary 
school  instruction  ;  and  taking  the  mimimum  number  of  attend- 
ances of  children  throughout  the  year  at  200,  and  reckoning  five 
hours  of  school  for  each  day,  we  find  in  the  four  years  about  4000 
hours  of  practice  allowed  for  carrying  it  out.  Now,  let  us  look 
at  the  results.  According  to  the  official  Report  of  186G-7,  it 
appears  that  at  the  examinations  in  18G6,  264,231  above  10  chil- 
dren were  qualified  by  age  and  attendances  to  present  themselves 
for  examination,  but  for  want  of  qualification  by  advancement 
only  161,773  were  actually  examined.  Of  these  only  97,364 
passed  without  failure  above  Standard  III.,  which  means,  as  the 
official  Report  tells  us,  that  only  97,364  children  above  ten  years 
of  age  passed  the  examination,  instead  of  264,231  who  ought  to 
have  passed;  and,  consequent!}',  "  that  the  difference,  63  per 
cent,  or  nearly  two  thirds,  marks  children  passing  out  of  school 
to  work  with  less  of  elementary  knowledge  than  Standard  IV. 
denotes."  The  reporters  may  well  say,  as  they  do  with  proper 
official  calmness,  "  the  general  results  of  the  individual,  examina- 
tions under  the  Revised  Code  still  continue  to  show  too  backward 
a  state  of  instruction." 

Things  were  much  the  same,  if  not  worse,  in  1870  :  the  last  year 
reported  on.  The  reporters  still  call  attention  in  a  marginal  note, 
to  the  "unsatisfactory  results  of  examination."  Not  without 
reason,  as  shown  by  the  explanatory  text,  where  we  find  these 
noticeable  words  :  If  we  confine  our  attention  to  the  scholars 
above  ten  years  of  age,  it  further  appears  that  out  of  every  100  of 
these  elder  scholars  examined,  only  64  per  cent,  passed  without 
failure,  although  129,331,  or  44  per  cent  of  the  number,  were 
examined  in  the  three  lower  standards  (which  I  interpret  aa 


286  ON   IMPROVING   OUR   METHODS 

meaning  that  only  20  per  cent  instead  of  37  per  cent  as  in  the 
former  Report,  of  the  scholars  above  ten  years  of  age  passed 
Standard  III.),  "while,"  the  Report  proceeds,  "  those  who  passed 
without  failure  in  the  three  higher  standards  were  only  33  per 
cent  out  of  the  100."  Surely  these  are  very  extraordinary  pro- 
ducts of  the  working  of  the  prodigious  machine  called  National 
Education  ;  a  machine  evidently  either  so  badly  constructed  or  so 
badly  worked,  that  it  fails  more  than  twice  where  it  succeeds  once. 
Is  this  the  sort  of  engineering  that  we  find  in  the  manufactories  of 
Birmingham  and  Manchester?  How  long  would  the  proprietors 
or  directors  put  up  with  a  machine  which  so  signally  defeated  all 
their  calculations  ? 

In  the  presence  of  so  notable  a  failure,  it  behoves  us  to  inquire 
a  little  into  the  causes.  The  elements  of  the  problem  to  be  solved 
are,  (1)  School  houses ;  (2)  School  apparatus ;  (3)  School  time ; 
(4)  The  average  intelligence  of  the  pupils ;  (5)  Methods  of 
teaching.  Now,  we  may  safely  eliminate  the  first  three  elements  ; 
as  standing  on  both  sides  of  the  equation  ;  nor  will  it  be  seriously 
pretended  that  English  children,  as  compared  with  those  of 
Switzerland  and  Saxony,  for  instance  —  countries  in  which  it  is 
rare  to  find  a  child,  ten  3Tears  of  age,  that  cannot  read,  write,  and 
cipher  well  — are  exceptionally  stupid.*  Observe  these  children 
at  their  games  and  their  amusements,  at  their  school  tricks  and 
subterfuges ;  in  their  intercourse  with  each  other.  It  is  quite 
impossible  to  question  their  general  intelligence,  or  to  suppose 
them  naturally  incapable  of  acquiring,  in  4000  hours  of  instruc- 
tion, sufficient  knowledge  to  pass  the  fourth  standard.  We  are 
then,  it  appears,  shut  up  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  to  the  fifth 
element  —  the  method  of  teaching,  the  working  of  the  machinery 

—  that  we  must  look  for  the  cause  of  the  default ;  and  for  this 
the   masters   themselves   are    proximately,    and    the    Education 
Department   ultimately,    responsible.     In  proposing  this  as  the 
solution  of  the  problem  before  us,  I  shall,  of  course,  raise  up  a 
host  of  opponents.     I  shall  be  told  that,  as  the  large  majority  of 
the  teachers  are  certificated  masters,  they  must  be  competent  to 
teach.     The  answer  to  this  plea  is,  that  they  obviously  do  not  do 
what  they  are  by  theory  competent  to  do ;  and  the  question  still 

*  Mr.  Hop  worth  Dixon,  In  his  "  Swltzers  "  (p.  296),  says  "  Director  Max  Wirth,  of  Bern, 
assures  me  that  no  boy  and  no  girl  exists  in  this  Confederation  —  save  an  idiot  here  and  there 

—  who  cannot  read  and  write,"  and  Mr.  Mundella  tells  us  that  in  Saxony  he  actually  offered 
a  premium  (which  he  was  never  called  on  to  pay)  for  the  production  of  a  child  above  ten 
years  of  agu  who  could  not  read,  write,  and  cipher  well. 


OP   SCHOOL   INSTRUCTION.  287 

remaining  for  solution  is,  if  they  are  not  responsible  for  the  fail, 
ure,  who  or  what  is?  and  we  are  confronted  by  the  absurdity  of  an 
effect  without  a  cause.  If  this  is  really  the  condition  of  the  question, 
we  are  of  course  doomed  to  failure  :  and  in  that  case  it  would  perhaps 
be  more  to  the  purpose,  instead  of  bemoaning  our  hard  fate,  to  yield 
to  it  at  once,  and  give  up  the  farce  of  national  education  altogether. 
The  public  revenue  would  be  relieved  of  an  immense  and  continually 
increasing  burden ;  the  army  of  teachers  would  be  set  free  for 
employment  in  some  more  congenial  sphere  of  labor;  and  the 
select  baud  of  accomplished  gentlemen  (highly-tempered  razors, 
now  occupied  in  the  ignoble  task  of  cutting  blocks)  who  kindly  do 
the  work  of  finding  out  our  faults  for  the  contemptible  sum  of 
about  £65,000  a  year,  would  probably  meet  with  engagements 
better  suited  for  the  display  of  their  exquisife  attainments  in 
Classics  and  High  Mathematics ;  the  children  would  exchange  the 
dull  lessons  of  the  school-room  for  those  taught  by  Nature  in  the 
open  air  and  green  fields  and  woodlands  ;  and  the  average  results 
of  this  change  of  plan  (involving,  at  all  events,  a  large  general 
increase  of  happiness),  would  probably  not  very  considerably  differ 
—  if  accurately  estimated  — from  those  attained  under  our  wonder- 
ful system  of  so-called  education. 

Turning  away,  however,  our  eyes  from  this  glimpse  of  Elysium 
with  a  sigh,  we  come  back  to  the  hard  reality  of  facts,  and  in  their 
bare  presence  I  ask,  what  other  department  of  human  industry  is 
there  in  which  the  article  manufactured  so  inadequately  represents 
the  immense  cost  and  labor  employed  in  its  production  ? 

I  have  referred  incidentally  to  the  inspectorship  of  our  schools ; 
but  I  wish  to  make  a  remark  or  two  on  this  feature  of  our  national 
system  —  a  feature  which  strikingly  brings  out  our  how-not-to-do-it 
official  spirit.  One  would  think  that  the  proper  qualifications  for 
an  inspector  of  schools  were,  (1)  A  thoughtful  study  of  education 
itself — what  it  is,  what  it  might  be  expected  to  achieve;  (2)  A 
thorough  acquaintance  with  school  work,  gained  by  long  and 
successful  experience,  and  involving,  therefore,  an  eye  practised  to 
appreciate  the  merits  and  to  detect  the  faults  of  the  external 
machinery,  as  well  as  of  the  mode  in  which  it  is  worked :  and  (3) 
A  knowledge  of  the  best  methods  of  teaching  generally,  as  prac- 
tised in  other  countries,  as  well  as  in  our  own,  with  a  view  to  the 
suggestion  of  improvements  wherever  needed  in  the  schools  actually 
under  inspection.  These  being  appnrantly  the  proper  qualifications 
of  an  inspector  of  schools,  with  no  little  amazement,  that  not  one 
of  them  is  looked  upon  as  weighing  a  straw  in  the  selection  of  our 


288  ON   IMPROVING  OUtt  METHODS 

school  inspectors.  They  are  all  absolutely  set  aside,  and  count 
for  nothing  as  against  the  claims  founded  on  the  ability  to  write 
Greek  iambics  and  solve  differential  equations !  And  hence  we 
have  school  inspectors  who,  up  to  the  moment  of  their  appoint- 
ment, may  never  have  even  set  foot  in  a  primary  school ;  men 
destitute  therefore  of  educational  experience,  of  all  knowledge  of 
education,  whether  as  a  science  or  an  art,  and  wanting,  in  short, 
every  essential  qualification  for  the  task  they  undertake.  It  is  no 
answer  to  this  charge  against  the  system,  that  some  of  them 
speedily,  to  some  extent,  qualify  themselves.  There  is  no  doubt 
about  that.  I  cannot,  however,  in  justice  to  my  own  convictions, 
dismiss  this  subject  without  contending  earnestly  that  these  posts 
belong,  of  right,  to  the  most  intelligent,  hard-working,  experienced, 
and  successful  of  the  primary  schoolmasters  themselves  ;  and  that 
these  men  are  defrauded  by  the  present  system  of  the  reward 
justly  due  to  their  labors.  What  a  stimulus  would  be  given  to  the 
entire  body  of  primary  schoolmasters  if  a  career  were  thus  open 
to  them  !  \Vhy  then  is  it  not  done  ?  Let  the  authorities  at  head- 
quarters answer  the  question.  I  shall  not  attempt  it. 

Having  suggested  the  unsuitability  and  inadequacy  of  the  methods 
of  teaching  employed  in  our  primary  schools,  as  the  apparent  cause 
of  the  failure  in  the  ultimate  result,  and  fixed  the  responsibility  on 
the  teachers  themselves,  we  are  bound  to  proceed  forward  in  the 
inquiry,  and  endeavor  to  ascertain  the  nature  and  quality  of  the 
production  "  teacher,"  which  is  fabricated  in  the  educational 
manufactories  called  training  colleges.  These  institutions  cost  the 
country  at  the  present  moment  about,  100,0002.  per  annum.  They 
are  presided  over  and  officered  by  men  of  high  intelligence,  large 
attainments,  and  much  zeal.  The  machinery,  then,  viewed  in 
relation  to  its  professed  object,  is  ample  and  sufficient.  This  can 
hardly  be  doubted.  It  is  in  these  institutions  that  the  teacher  is  to 
receive  a  true  conception  of  the  nature,  aims,  and  ends  of  education, 
to  acquire  that  culture  which  will  fit  him  to  direct  the  culture  of 
others ;  and,  moreover,  to  ascertain  and  be  practiced  in  those 
methods  of  securing  culture  which  have  been  proved  by  experience 
to  be  the  best.  Such  are  the  theoretical  professions  of  a  training 
college.  I  have  carefully  looked  over  the  schemes  of  the  training 
colleges,  and  I  am  bound  to  say  that  these  professions  form  a 
constituent  part  of  the  machinery  set  forth  —  on  paper.  As.  how- 
ever, we  are  dealing  not  with  paper  theories,  but  with  practical 
results,  I  must  beg  your  attention  to  some  of  these,  as  derived  from 
the  Reports  of  JVIr.  Morgan  Cowie  and  others,  on  the  examinations 


OF   SCHOOL   INSTRUCTION.  289 

conducted  in  1870,  in  the  twenty-two  training  colleges  of  England, 
Wales,  and  Scotland.  We  notice  especially  the  Report  on  the 
examination  of  students  of  the  second  or  final  year  of  instruction  ; 
and  we  find  that  the  general  terms  employed  in  describing  the 
results  are,  such  as  these  :  "  Fell  below  a  fair  standard,"  "  Did  not 
pass  creditably,"  "Did  not  acquit  themselves  creditably,"  "  Did 
badly,"  &c.  ;  and  the  subjects  to  which  these  remarks  apply,  are 
"grammar,"  "  mental  arithmetic,"  "geography,"  "Euclid,"  &c.  ; 
all  being,  in  fact,  ordinary  subjects  taught  in  the  colleges.  Passing, 
however,  from  the  general  to  the  special,  we  find  in  the  tabulated 
results  of  the  examination  of  male  students  of  the  second,  i.  e.,  final 
year  of  instruction,  in  these  twenty-two  training  colleges,  some 
very  extraordinary  figures.  These  tables  record  the  percentage  of 
marks  gained  by  these  male  students  who  were  entitled  to  the 
epithets,  "Excellent,"  "Good,"  and  "Fair,"  and  leave  the  rest 
out  altogether  ;  and  it  appears  (to  take  only  a  few  of  the  subjects) 
that  in  mental  arithmetic  the  highest  percentage  of  marks  gained 
at  any  one  of  the  colleges  amounted  to  32,  in  grammar  10,  in 
geography  43,  in  Euclid  58  ;  while  the  average  percentage  of  all 
the  colleges  taken  together,  appears  to  be,  in  mental  arithmetic  !.">, 
in  grammar  3  (  !),  in  geography  10,  in  Euclid  28.  Now,  whether 
we  look  at  these  remarkable  figures  as  testing  the  soundness  and 
HIiciency  of  the  teaching  in  these  training  colleges,  or  the  industry 
and  earnestness  of  the  taught,  they  are  well  worthy  of  serious 
consideration.  At  all  events,  they  help  us  greatly  in  the  solution 
of  the  problem  we  were  just  discussing  —  the  failure  in  the  pupils' 
examination.  We  are  no  longer  surprised  at  finding  the  pupils  of 
such  masters  failing  at  the  same  or  even  a  less  rate  ;  nor  can  we 
but  entertain  great  doubts  of  the  value  of  the  average  intellectual 
training  which  ends  in  such  results  as  these.  Notwithstanding 
then,  the  great  professions  of  the  training  colleges,  we  are  forced 
to  bring  them  to  the  practical  test,  "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them,"  and  to  conclude  that  these  institutions  give  a  poor  return 
for  the  funds  expended  on  them.  I  am  not  unaware  of  the  ex- 
ceptions which  may  be  taken  to  these  conclusions,  or  of  the 
explanations,  or  attempts  at  explanation,  which  may  be  given  to 
extenuate  what  we  must  consider  the  true  cause  of  the  failure.  I 
have,  however,  no  time  to  discuss  them  in  detail.  But  there  is  one 
especially  which  has  been  lately  urged,  which  demands  some  con- 
sideration. It  is,  in  brief,  this,  that  the  acknowledged  failure  in 
primary  education  is  attributable  not  to  the  want  of  good  teaehh:_-. 
but  to  Mr.  Lowe's  much  abused  Revised  Code  :  that  is  to  say.  that 


290  ON   IMPROVING   OUR  METHODS 

the  true  reason  why  two-thirds  of  the  pupils  of  primary  schools  go 
forth  into  the  world  with  a  "  completed  education,"  which  consists 
in  their  being  unable  to  pass  the  fourth  standard,  that  is,  to  read 
accurately  and  intelligently,  to  write  a  decent  hand,  and  to  do  sums 
in  the  compound  rules,  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  they  are  not 
also  taught  history,  geography,  geometry,  and  physical  science. 
Now  I  am  not  about  to  defend  the  curriculum  of  the  Revised  or  of 
the  New  Code,  which  I  honestly  consider  the  meanest  and  the  barest 
that  ever  was  devised  as  the  be-all  and  end-all  of  a  system  of 
primary  education  ;  but  at  the  same  time,  I  must  avow  my  inability 
to  see  the  logical  connection  between  the  two  facts.  We  all 
remember  that,  before  the  Revised  Code  was  introduced,  the 
curriculum  was  larger  than  it  is  now  ;  and  we  also  remember  that 
the  results  of  elementary  instruction  were  even  smaller  than  they 
are  now,  and  that  this  fact  constituted  the  strongest  argument  for 
the  Revised  Code.  This  plea,  then,  does  not  meet  the  case,  nor 
solve  the  problem  on  which  we  are  engaged.  It  was,  however, 
argued  with  much  force  and  plausibility  by  several  of  the  most 
eminent  principals  of  training  colleges,  in  their  evidence  before  the 
Commission  on  Scientific  Instruction,  that  the  teaching  of  physical 
science  in  primary  schools  and  training  colleges  is  the  desideratum 
required  to  mend  the  present  system  and  make  it  truly  efficient. 
The  value  of  instruction  in  physical  science,  even  in  the  most 
elementary  schools,  and  to  the  youngest  children,  I  am  so  far  from 
denying,  that  I  strongly  insist  upon  it — as  may  be  seen  in  the  paper 
which  I  read  last  year  at  the  Leeds  meeting  of  our  Association  — 
but  to  the  inference  that  the  introduction  of  science  into  the 
curriculum  (especially  if  it  were  taught  to  no  better  effect  than 
geography,  grammar,  and  Euclid  are  now  taught  in  the  training 
colleges)  would  supply  what  is  needed  I  as  strongly  demur.  It  is 
a  singular  fact  that,  having  Mr.  Cowie's  report,  with  its  striking 
implied  condemnation  of-  the  system  of  teaching  pursued  in  the 
training  colleges  generally,  before  them,  the  principals  to  whom 
I  refer  apparantly  ignored  that  report  altogether,  nor  in  any  wa}*, 
as  far  as  I  can  see,  guarded  themselves  against  the  quiet  but 
decisive  reprimand  conveyed  in  these  words  of  the  Commissioners : 
"  While  we  are  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  scientific  instruction 
should  form  a  substantial  part  of  the  curriculum  of  training  colleges, 
we  feel  the  great  difficulty  which  arises  from  the  present  condition 
of  the  general  instruction  in  those  Colleges,  as  disclosed  by  the  reports 
of  the  inspectors  for  the  years  1870-71,"  i.  e.,  the  reports  from 
which  I  have  already  given  some  quotations.  This  reprimand,  if  it 


OF   SCHOOL  INSTRUCTION.  291 

means  anything,  means,  as  addressed  to  the  principals  of  the  train- 
ing colleges  generally,  "  You  ask  for  more  subjects  to  teach.  How 
have  you  taught  those  for  which  you  are  already  responsible? 
You  urge  the  value  of  physical  science  as  an  aid  to  intellectual 
development,  but  what  sort  of  intellectual  development  have  you 
secured  by  your  methods  of  teaching  other  subjects  manifestly,  if 
not  equally,  suitable  for  the  same  purpose  —  and  so  on.  I  am  not 
called  upon  myself  to  answer  these  awkward  questions,  but  I  cannot 
help  thinking  that  they  have  a  profound  significance  and  well  de- 
serve a  reply.  I  wish,  however,  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  the 
assumption  that  the  great  majority  of  the  pupils  in  primary  schools 
cannot  be  soundly  instructed  in  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic, 
because  the  small  minority  are  debarred  from  learning  acoustics, 
electricity,  &c.  It  has  long  been  received  as  a  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  teaching  that  it  is  not  so  much  the  thing  taught  as  the 
manner  of  teaching  it  that  constitutes  its  value  to  the  pupil.  This 
principle  is  capable  of  the  widest  application,  and  extends  to  the 
teaching  of  the  most  elementary  subjects  ;  and  I  contend  that  the 
teacher  who  is  shut  up  to  the  teaching  of  reading,  writing,  and 
arithmetic,  may,  if  he  is  really  instructed  in  his  art,  find  in  these 
simple  subjects  all  the  means  absolutely  required  for  developing, 
training,  and  informing  the  minds  of  his  pupils.  There  are,  for 
instance,  methods  of  teaching  reading,  which  involve  processes  — 
to  be  performed  by  the  pupil  himself  —  of  strict  analytical  investi- 
gation —  methods  of  teaching  writing,  which  train  the  hand,  through 
the  eye,  in  the  imitation  of  form,  and  lay  the  first  foundation  of 
aesthetic  culture  —  methods  of  teaching  arithmetic,  which  develop 
valuable  habits  of  reasoning,  and  of  thinking  generally  —  arithmetic 
being,  as  Dr.  Hodgson  has  said,  "  at  once  a  root  science  and  a 
great  power  in  education."  The  teacher,  then,  furnished  with  a 
high  conception  of  the  powers  of  his  art,  to  begin  with,  well 
instructed  moreover  in  the  nature  of  those  mental  and  moral 
forces,  which  he  has  every  day  to  direct  and  control,  thoroughly 
convinced,  too,  that  the  pupil's  most  fruitful  efforts  in  learning 
must  come  from  himself ;  and  lastly,  well  acquainted  with  the 
methods  of  intellectual  development,  which  the  experience  of  the 
masters  of  the  didactic  art  have  proved  to  be  the  best  suited  for 
the  purpose,  sits  down  to  his  task  of  teaching  reading,  writing, 
and  arithemetic.  Will  such  a  teacher,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
employ  4000  hours  in  his  work,  and  leave  it  unaccomplished  after 
all?  Will  he  not  do  something  more  for  his  pupils  than  is  now 
done  by  the  general  body  of  certificated  masters  in  our  primary 


292  ON  IMPROVING   OUR   METHODS 

schools?  And  we  may  further  inquire  whether  the  formation  of 
such  a  teacher,  by  suitable  means,  is  a  conception  too  great  and 
brilliant  for  us  to  entertain . 

But  there  is  something  more  to  be  said  on  this  subject.  While 
teachers  of  primary  schools  are  complaining  that  they  cannot 
teach  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic  for  want  of  a  more 
extended  apparatus  of  means  for  teaching  "higher  subjects," 
they  strangely  forget  that,  within  the  covers  of  the  books 
adapted  to  the  six  standards  —  with  the  addition  of  the  Bible  and 
History  of  England  —  there  lies  a  fund  of  language-phenomena, 
in  the  examination  of  which  they  may  find  the  fullest  scope  for 
the  exercise  of  their  own  and  their  pupils'  ingenuity.  Any 
twenty  pages,  indeed,  of  these  books,  contain  illustrations  of 
grammar,  logic,  rhetoric,  psychology,  philology,  &c.,  which  it 
would  tax  the  resources  of  the  profoundest  scholar  fully  to 
exhaust ;  and  are  we  to  be  told  that  the  primary  teacher  cannot 
find  materials  there  for  developing,  training,  informing,  and 
fructifying  the  minds  of  his  pupils,  and  for  accomplishing,  in 
short,  the  very  ends  for  which  he  is  a  teacher? 

Suppose  that  in  successive  stages  of  instruction  ten  pages  only 
of  each  standard  book  were  chosen,  with  the  view  of  requiring 
that  eveYy  sentence,  clause,  and  even  syllable  in  them  should  be 
thorough!}"  known  and  understood  —  known  so  that  the  child 
would  distinctly  recognize  these  elements  whenever  and  wherever 
they  afterwards  occurred,  and  would  mentally  refer  them  into  the 
place  where  they  were  first  met  with  —  known  so  that  the}-  would 
serve  as  examples  of  the  rules  of  grammar,  spelling,  &c.,  from 
time  to  time  brought  before  him.  Suppose  too  that  these  words 
were,  as  far  as  possible,  interpreted  by  the  material  objects, 
actions,  and  qualities  which  they  represent.  Suppose  all  this 
done  —  not  by  the  telling  of  the  teacher,  but  by  the  exercise  of 
the  child's  own  mind  —  by  his  own  observation  and  analysis  ;  and 
suppose  him  to  be  practised  in  putting  together  as  well  as  pulling 
to  pieces  —  in  synthesis  as  well  as  analysis.  Suppose,  in  short, 
that  in  every  possible  way  his  mind  were  exercised  on  the  matter 
before  him,  so  that  he  mastered  it  as  a  whole,  and  in  its  minutest 
details,  do  we  not  see  that  the  very  quickening  of  the  attention  to 
facts  patent  to  the  eye  and  appreciated  by  the  mind,  would  of 
itself  greatly  lessen  the  difficulty  of  learning  to  read  and  spell  — 
both  for  the  most  part  matters  of  ej'esight  —  and  train  the  child 
generally  to  habits  of  observation  ?  It  is  obvious  that  the  child 
whose  mind  is  disciplined  even  to  the  extent  which  I  have 


OF   SCHOOL   INSTRUCTION.  293 

suggested,  is,  by  this  thorough  mastery  of  sixty  pages  of  an 
ordinary  book,  pro  tanto,  an  educated  person,  and  that  he  can 
gain  this  education  —  the  means  for  which  are  found  in  every 
school-room  of  the  country  —  without  spending  a  single  penny  on 
the  machinery  for  "  higher  subjects."  All  that  is  really  needed 
is  the  wise  and  skillful  use  of  the  means  already  provided,  and 
this  depends  on  teaching  the  teacher  how  to  use  them.  That, 
however,  is  the  gist  of  the  whole  question. 

I  venture  then  to  doubt  wltether  the  mere  enlargement  of  the 
curriculum  for  the  benefit  of  the  few  would  of  itself  supply  the 
remedy  we  need  for  the  default  of  the  many,  and  especially  if  the 
new  subjects  were  taught  in  the  same  spirit  and  to  the  same  effect 
as  the  old  ones.  To  teach  the  rudiments  of  science  in  the  utterly 
unscientific,  unenlightened  manner  in  which  other  truths  seem  to 
be  generally  taught  in  our  primary  schools,  would  be  a  degrada- 
tion of  the  very  name  of  science.  The  true  object  of  teaching 
science  is  to  form  the  scientific  mind;  and  the  only  basis —  I 
speak  advisedly —  the  only  basis  of  science  teaching  is  the  method 
of  investigation.  "We  may  struggle  against  admitting  this  propo- 
sition as  we  please,  but  we  must  return  to  it  at  last.  Teaching 
science  by  books,  by  lecturing,  by  experiments  performed  by  the 
lecturer,  are  all  beside  the  mark  ;  they  do  not  teach  the  method 
of  investigation.  It  may,  however,  be  taught  to  the  youngest 
child  in  the  most  elementary  schools,  and  must  be  taught  to  such 
children  and  in  such  schools  before  the  proper  training  required 
for  technical  education  is  secured.  I  cannot  enlarge  on  this 
topic.  I  only  remark  further  that  if  the  training  colleges  value 
the  scientific  method,  I  cannot  understand  why  they  do  not  teach 
other  subjects  in  its  spirit.  Returning,  however,  to  the  imme- 
diate object  of  our  inquiry,  we  may  sum  up  its  results  thus  far. 
If  we  cast  our  eyes  from  one  end  to  the  other  of  the  vast  system 
of  agencies  employed  in  our  primary  education,  we  notice  (1)  that 
the  object  aimed  at  is  not  secured.  We  fail  twice  as  often  as  we 
succeed.  "We  therefore,  naturally  make  the  teachers  and  the 
methods  of  teaching  they  employ  responsible  for  this  result.  AVe 
notice,  (2)  that  the  teachers  themselves  are  Ihe  product  of  a 
system  of  training  which  appears  to  fail  more  than  twice  as  often 
as  it  succeeds.  "We  therefore  make  the  staff  of  teachers  in  the 
training  colleges,  the  methods  of  teaching  they  employ,  responsible 
for  this  result.  "We  notice,  (3)  that  the  training  colleges  are  the 
product  of  the  Education  Department,  the  mainspring  or  primum 
mobile  of  the  whole  machine,  and  therefore  fundamentally  resjKm- 


294  ON   IMPROVING   OTJE,   METHODS 

sible  for  its  entire  working ;  and  we  notice,  finally,  that  the 
Education  Department  itself  is  the  product  and  embodiment  of  a 
theory  of  education,  mean  and  limited  in  its  scope,  and  unenlight- 
ened in  its  views ;  a  theory  which  carried  out  into  practice, 
ignores  the  essential  while  it  strenuously  promotes  the  incidental ; 
which  earnestly  stimulates  mechanical  and  "didactic"  teaching, 
and  gives  little  or  no  encouragement  to  that  which  is  intellectual, 
scientific,  artistic,  and  which  aims  at  culture.  Such  is  the  broad 
indictment,  which  after  much  examination  of  the  facts,  much 
practice  in  the  art,  much  study  of  the  theory  of  education,  I  ven- 
ture to  bring  against  the  entire  scheme  of  primary  instruction,  in 
this  country.  I  hope  no  attempt  will  be  made  to  meet  it  by 
bringing  forward  notable  exceptions.  We  have,  strictly  speak- 
ing, nothing  to  do  with  exceptions.  We  have  to  do  with  the 
rule,  the  general  average ;  and  my  argument  and  statements  can 
only  be  met  by  showing,  (1)  that  the  theory  is  good  ;  and  (2)  that 
the  average  practical  results  prove  it  to  be  so.  This,  in  fact,  is 
the  gist  of  the  whole  question  ;  for  efficient  teaching  implies  the 
success  of  the  great  majority  of  the  pupils,  not  the  success  of  the 
small  minority.  If,  however,  exceptions  are  to  be  taken  into 
account,  I  turn  away  from  the  schools  sanctioned  by  the  Educa- 
tion Department,  and  point  with  pleasure  and  satisfaction  to  the 
late  Dean  Dawes's  schools,  at  King's  Somborne,  the  late  Mr. 
Henslow's,  in  his  quiet  country  parish,  and  to  the  Trade  Schools 
at  Bristol,  all  of  which  illustrate  a  totally  different  conception  and 
style  of  teaching  from  those  so. elaborately  pursued  in  our  primary 
schools,  though  the  pupils  belong  to  the  same  class  of  society. 

But  I  have  dwelt  at  sufficient  length  on  our  primary  school  sys- 
tem, and  I  now  call  your  attention  to  the  general  average  results 
of  middle-class  education.  These  have  not  been  tabulated  and 
classified  with  the  same  degree  of  strictness  as  the  former,  but  the 
incidental  evidence  is  sufficient  for  our  purpose  :  — 

(l.)The  youths  examined  for  the  Civil  Service  are  the  products 
of  the  ordinary  teaching  of  middle-class  schools, plusfhc  cramming 
by  which  it  is  supplemented,  in  view  of  a  competitive  examina- 
tion. We  find  Sir  John  Shaw  Lefevre,  an  examiner  of  such 
candidates,  complaining  bitterly,  in '1861,  of  "their  incredible 
failures  in  orthography,"  their  "  miserable  writing,"  their  "  igno- 
rance of  arithmetic,"  and  remarking:  "  It  is  comparatively  rare 
to  find  a  candidate  who  can  add  correctly  a  moderately  long 
column  of  figures."  Only  a  short  time  back,  it  was  reported  that 
out  of  1U72  candidates,  who  in  the  course  of  four  years  failed  in 


OF   SCHOOL  INSTRUCTION.  295 

the  examination,  18GG  were  rejected  for  bad  spelling ;  and  in  the 
last  Report  of  the  Civil  Service  Commissioners,  we  see  that  out  of 
11,424  candidates,  nearly  if  not  quite  all  middle-class  pupils,  5696 
failed  to  pass  the  examination. 

(2.)  At  the  first  local  examination  under  the  Oxford  scheme, 
50  per  cent  of  the  candidates  failed  in  the  simple  preliminary 
examination,  all  being  picked  pupils  expressly  prepared  for  the 
competition.  The  proportion  of  failures  has,  I  believe,  since 
settled  down  to  something  less  than  one-third. 

(3.)  In  1869,  a  petition  was  presented  to  the  House  of  Com- 
mons by  the  Council  of  Medical  Education,  complaining  that  u  the 
maintenance  of  a  sufficient  medical  education  is  very  difficult,  owing 
to  the  defective  education  given  in  the  middle-class  schools."  At 
the  same  time,  a  similar  petition  was  presented  by  the  British 
Medical  Association  —  a  body  numbering  4000  members ;  and 
another  by  the  University  of  London,  which  stated  that  their 
examiners  had  been  obliged  for  the  previous  ten  years  to  reject 
40  per  cent  —  since  1869,  even  55  percent — of  the  candidates 
sent  up  for  matriculation  from  middle-class  schools. 

(4.)  Not  a  month  ago,  the  Report  of  the  examination  in  arts 
of  the  Apothecaries'  Society,  showed  that  at  their  recent  examina- 
tion nearly  40  per  cent  of  the  candidates  sent  up  were  rejected. 
The  candidates  in  this  case  were  of  the  average  age  of  seventeen ; 
and  most  of  them  had  probably  been  submitted  to  strenuous  cram- 
ming, to  prepare  them  for  the  examination.  This  consisted  of  very 
easy  pieces  of  Latin,  taken  from  a  book  announced  three  months 
before  ;  of  short  and  easy  pieces  of  English  for  re-translation  ;  of 
a  similar  paper  in  French  ;  of  a  few  elementary  questions  in  Latin 
and  French  grammar ;  of  a  paper  on  the  first  and  second  books  of 
Euclid,  without  problems  or  exercises;  of  a  paper  on  arithmetic 
to  decimals,  and  one  on  algebra  to  simple  equations  —  all  matters 
which  form  the  staple  of  instruction  in  middle-class  schools.  A 
writer  in  the  "  Pall  Mall  Gazette,"  May  1,  thus  comments  on  this 
examination  :  — 

"  It  is  not  a  little  startling  that  of  the  pupils  of  the  upper  ranks 
of  the  schools  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  and  after  special  training 
for  the  purpose,  nearly  one-half  are  found  to  have  spent  their 
lives  thus  far  in  a  vain  attempt  to  acquire  the  first  elements  of 
languages  and  figures.  If  this  were  a  special  and  solitary  case, 
it  would  be  surprising  as  a  phenomenon,  but  we  learn  that  it  is 
something  very  like  the  rule.  The  experience  of  the  examiners 
at  the  College  of  Surgeons  is  of  a  nearly  equally  discouraging 


296  ON   IMPROVING   OUR   METHODS 

character  ;  "  and  he  adds,  "  It  will  not,"  we  believe,  "be  doubted, 
that  such  a  percentage  of  rejections  of  young  men  specially  trained 
for  the  examination  of  this  simple  kind  is  far  from  creditable,  and 
betokens  serious  unsoundness  in  our  educational  system."  If, 
however,  we  have  any  doubts  on  this  point,  they  may  be  dispelled 
by  reference  to  the  voluminous  Report  of  the  Schools  Inquiry  Com- 
mission. Failure !  failure !  is  the  clear  verdict  the}'  pass  on  the 
average  results  of  the  teaching  both  in  endowed  and  private  middle- 
class  schools.  As  to  the  former,  the  general  Report  after  quoting, 
in  detail,  numerous  instances,  thus  sums  up  its  judgment.  "  The 
foregoing  account  shows  that  the  instruction  given  in  the  endowed 
schools  is  very  far  removed  from  what  their  founders  could  have 
anticipated  or  from  what  the  country  has  a  right  to  expect.  The 
districts  assigned  to  our  Assistant  Commissioners  embrace  almost 
every  diversity  of  character  and  population,  yet  the  results  appear 
very  uniform."  Again,  "  This  unsatisfactory  condition  of  second- 
ary education  is  the  natural  consequence  of  the  clearly  proved  ab- 
sence, in  a  large  number  of  cases,  of  the  conditions  of  educational 
success.  Untrained  teachers  and  bad  methods  of  teaching,  unin- 
spected work  by  workmen  without  adequate  motive  .  .  .  could 
hardly  lead  to  any  other  result."  Of  special  Reports  I  can  quote 
only  one  sentence,  from  Mr.  Fitch's,  on  Yorkshire  Endowed 
Schools  -t  "Three-fourths  of  the  scholars  whom  I  have  examined 
in  endowed  schools,  if  tested  by  the  usual  standard  appropriate  to 
boys  of  similar  age,  under  the  Revised  Code,  would  fail  to  pass 
the  examination  either  in  arithmetic  or  any  other  elementary  sub- 
ject "  (Report,  p.  133).  The  general  Report  on  "Private 
Schools,"  though  brief,  is  significant:  "It  appears  to  be  too 
certain  that  a  great  proportion  of  the  private  schools  are  inefficient. 
All  our  evidence  points  to  this  conclusion  with  remarkable  una- 
nimity "  (p.  G54).  A  few  special  notes  on  private-school  teaching 
may  be  given.  Mr.  Bryce  says,  "  Not  in  more  than  three  or  four 
private  schools  in  the  whole  country  did  I  find  that  the  main  ob- 
ject of  the  teachers  was  to  invigorate  the  mind  by  these  robust 
studies  (i.  e.  Latin  and  mathematics)  ;"  and  he  speaks  of  the 
teaching  of  practical  subjects  as  being  "loose,  confused,  and 
irrational,"  and  "  of  the  want  of  anything  which  can  give  tenacity 
and  clearness  to  the  scholar's  mind."  Then  we  find  Canon  Norris, 
when  asked  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  general  state  of  middle- 
class  education,  replying  (Evidence,  vol.  i.,  491),  "My  impres- 
sion is  that  it  is  extremely  unsatisfactory  —  most  unsatisfactoiy." 
Professor  Rawlinson,  as  an  examiner  of  boys  sent  up  to  the 


OF   SCHOOL   INSTRUCTION.  297 

local  examinations,  after  premising  that  these  boys  are  "  the  pick 
of  the  middle-class,"  says,  "I  certainly  think  that  the  general 
condition  of  middle-class  education  must  be  very  bad  indeed,  if 
this  is  the  best,"  and  particularly  complains  of  "  the  want  of  sound 
elementary  grounding."  Then  lastly,  Mr.  Moseley — a  man  of  the 
highest  authority  in  matters  of  education  —  gives  the  same  general 
testimony,  and  speaks  of  the  main  defects  in  middle-class  teaching, 
as  "  the  want  of  culture  ;  the  want  of  exercising  the  understanding 
of  the  children  ;  that  it  [teaching]  is  altogether  a  mechanical 
thing  ;  "  and  that  the  great  want  of  all  is  "to  provide  another  and 
a  better  class  of  schoolmasters  ;  men  specially  trained,  not  only  to 
know  those  subjects,  but  also  to  teach  them."  The  entire  evidence 
indeed,  and  the  uniform  tenor  of  the  Reports,  furnished  by  the 
Assistant  Commissioners  is  to  the  same  effect :  while  Miss  Buss, 
Miss  Beale,  and  other  high  authorities  on  female  education,  tell 
us  that  the  average  quality  of  the  teaching,  and  the  average  results 
obtained  in  girls'  schools  are  still  more  unsatisfactor}*. 

Now,  what  are  we  to  say  to  this  uniform  testimony  as  to  the 
teachers,  and  the  average  results  of  the  teaching,  in  middle-class 
schools?  Are  we  to  regard  them  as  indicating  a  high  conception 
of  education  as  a  theory,  enlightened  views  as  to  its  aims,  and 
efficient  and  sound  methods  of  putting  them  into  practice?  These 
questions  require  no  answer ;  but  here,  as  in  the  case  of  primary 
instruction,  I  see  no  escape  from  the  conclusion  that  the  failure  is 
due  to  the  teachers.  Their  responsibility  can  in  no  way  be  set 
aside,  and  we  are  the  more  closely  shut  up  to  this  conclusion, 
because  it  cannot  be  thrown  back  upon  training  colleges,  of  which 
there  are  none  for  middle-class  teachers.  The  teachers  then  must 
bear  the  entire  responsibility,  and  all  the  censure  implied  in  the 
crucial  test,  "  As  is  the  school,  so  is  the  master."  There  is,  how- 
ever, one  power  superior  to  the  teacher's,  and  of  which  he  is  in  a 
certain  sense  the  product  —  and  that  is  Public  Opinion  :  a  subtle 
despot,  at  present  almost  blind,  deaf,  and  imbecile  in  regard  to  this 
matter  of  education.  Who  shall  dare  to  shout  into  his  ears  the 
summons  to  purge  his  eyesight  and  clear  his  wits,  that  he  may 
fully  comprehend  this  simple  proposition  —  that  England  is  suffer- 
ing everywhere  for  want  of  teachers  who  know  how  to  teach  ? 
AVho,  indeed !  But  I  cannot  dwell  longer  on  this  part  of  my 
subject.  I  pass  on,  then,  to  the  third  division  of  it,  which  relates 
to  the  ordinary  instruction  given  in  our  public  schools. 

Here,  too,  as  in  the  other  cases  we  look  in  vain  for  the  realiza- 
tion of  any  ideal  of  education  which  is  worthy  of  the  name. 


298  ON   IMPROVING  OUlt  METHODS 

Neither  education  in  its  proper  sense  of  intellectual  training,  nor 
sound  definite  instruction  in  thes  ubjects  taught,  appear  to  be  the 
general  result  of  that  public-school  teaching  which  the  Bishop  of 
"Winchester  has  emphaticall}-  declared  to  be  "  the  best  that  can  be 
found  in  this  country." 

The  theory  of  the  system,  however,  as  far  as  it  goes,  seems 
simple  enough,  and  is  not  wanting  in  a  certain  air  of  plausibility. 
It  is  this,  that  by  the  thorough  study  and  mastery  of  Latin  and 
Greek  the  mind  is  so  quickened,  developed,  and  trained,  that  in 
the  process  a  sound  knowledge  of  these  subjects  is  gained,  and 
what  is  more  important,  an  aptitude  and  skill,  which,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  make  the  ordinary  subjects  of  instruction  easy  of  attain- 
ment, and  in  point  of  fact  ensure  their  attainment.  This  is  the 
theory ;  but  the  practice  founded  upon  it  and  its  actual  average 
results  woefully  belie  it.  The  premises  indeed  are  not  justified  by 
the  facts  of  the  case.  The  languages  the  mastering  of  which  is 
by  the  theory,  to  secure  intellectual  training,  and  all  its  consequent 
benefits,  are  not  generally  mastered  —  their  rudiments  even  are  not 
generally  mastered,  at  the  public  schools.  The  proofs  of  this 
assertion  are  to  be  found  abundantly  in  the  Report  and  evidence 
furnished  by  the  Public  Schools  Commission  of  1864,  and  are  such 
as  cannot  possibly  be  gainsaid  or  set  aside.  Several  distinguished 
public  tutors  and  examiners  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  haviug  the 
opportunity  of  examining  young  men  on  their  entrance  to  the 
university  course,  declare  that  the  average  of  youths  admitted  from 
the  public  schools  are  "  badly  grounded ; "  are  "  in  knowledge 
absolute  ignoramuses,"  "having  everything  to  learn,  and  littlej 
desire  to  learn  anything,"  "have  few  intellectual  tastes,"  have 
"very  unawakened  minds,  and  habits  of  mental  indolence  and 
inaccuracy,"  require  "their  shortcomings  to  be  supplemented  by 
the  university  teaching,"  which  is  therefore  "  hampered  "  by  intei'- 
ference  with  its  own  proper  work,  evince  "  surprising  ignorance 
on  points  not  strictly  academical,"  are  "  deplorably  ignorant  of 
English  literature,  English  history,  and  English  composition," 
"  read  worse  than  the  majority  of  pupil  teachers  in  elementary 
schools,"  and  often  spell  flagrantly  ill. 

These,  then,  it  appears  are  the  average  practical  results  of  the 
noble  theory  which  promised  so  much,  and  the  results,  be  it 
remembered,  in  the  case  of  those  who  go  from  the  public  schools 
to  enter  on  the  university  course,  being  a  selection — about  one- 
third  —  of  the  total  number  who  leave  these  schools.  It  would  be 


OF   SCHOOL   INSTRUCTION.  299 

interesting  to  ascertain  the  mental  condition  and  furniture  of 
those  who  never  enter  the  universities  at  all. 

Now  these  statements,  so  damaging  to  the  theory  of  public- 
school  teaching,  and  so  condemnatory  of  the  methods  by  which 
it  is  carried  out,  have  never,  as  far  as  I  know,  been  challenged ; 
their  substantial  accuracy  with  regard  to  the  average  of  the  pupils 
has  indeed  been  tacitly  acknowledged,  or  if  any  reply  has  been 
attempted,  it  has  consisted  in  fallaciously  pointing  to  brilliant 
exceptions,  and  calling  on  us  to  regard  them  as  the  rule.  Here, 
however,  I  once  more  apply  the  illustration  with  which  I  com- 
menced, and  contend  that  a  system  of  machinery  which  only  now 
and  then  accomplishes  its  object,  and  as  a  rule  works  immensely 
under  its  theoretical  power,  must  be  looked  upon  as  a  failure,  and 
that  therefore,  speaking  generally,  the  public-school  system,  as 
regards  its  average  teaching,  is  in  this  predicament.  Efficient 
instruction,  I  repeat,  implies  the  success  of  the  great  majority  of 
the  pupils,  not  the  success  of  the  small  minority. 

While  making  the  methods  of  teaching,  and  consequently  the 
teachers  of  our  public  schools,  in  strict  logic,  responsible  for  the 
results  described,  I  am  not  unaware  of  the  peculiar  difficulties 
arising  from  the  indifference  of  parents,  the  firm  hold  of  estab- 
lished traditionary  plans  of  teaching,  the  rampant  spirit  of  idle- 
ness prevalent  amongst  the  pupils,  and  so  on,  which  these  teachers 
have  to  encounter.  But  while  I  know  that  many  of  them  are  men 
of  high  attainments,  cultivated  minds,  large  experience,  and  inde- 
fatigable industry,  I  have  no  choice  but  to  apply  to  the  great 
body  of  them  the  test,  "  by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them,"  and. 
to  conclude  generally  that  they  are  unacquainted  with  the  true  art 
of  teaching ;  for  no  other  hypothesis  meets  all  the  facts  of  the 
case.  It  would  not  be  difficult  to  show  that  in  the  nature  of  things 
it  must  be  so.  "We  have  not  in  England  even  the  pretence  of  that 
Ecole  Normale  Superieure,  which,  on  the  testimony  of  the  Schools 
Inquiry  Commission,  "  annually  supplies  the  French  schools  with 
teachers  not  surpassed  in  the  world;"  nor  even  the  shadow  of 
that  careful  system  of  teaching  and  training  by  which  the  German 
teacher  is  prepared  for  his  career.  With  us  all  is  left  to  hap- 
hazard and  chance.  The  teacher  is  chosen  not  because  he  knows 
anything  of  teaching,  or  the  management  of  a  class  —  on  which  so 
much  depends  —  but  because  he  is  a  first-classman,  and  we  blindly 
give  ourselves  up  to  that  egregious  non  sequitur,  "  he  knows ; 
therefore  he  can  teach  what  he  knows"  —one  of  the  most 
remarkable  educational  fallacies  that  ever  blinded  the  eyes  of 


300  ON   IMPROVING   OUR   METHODS 

sensible  men.  He  sits  clown  to  his  work,  conscious  of  his  high 
qualifications  in  scholarship,  but  not  conscious  that  he  is  merely  a 
raw  recruit  in  teaching.  Having  long  forgotten  the  time  when 
small  difficulties  in  learning  proved  great  impediments  to  his 
course,  he  has  little  sympathy  with  the  boys  before  him  who  are  in 
the  condition  in  which  he  was  then.  He  is,  first,  surprised  at, 
then  resents,  what  appears  to  him  wanton  or  wilful  indifference  or 
crass  stupidity,  misunderstands  his  pupils,  and  forces  them,  by 
the  measures  he  adopts,  to  misunderstand  him,  and  so  goes  on 
blundering  and  floundering  through  difficulties  really  inherent  in 
his  work,  which  nothing  whatever  in  his  scholastic  career  has  pre- 
pared him  to  deal  with  ;  and  so  on.  I  cannot  further  follow  him 
in  his  course  ;  but  we  are  told  by  a  distinguished  master  of  a  pub- 
lic school,  that  this  soi't  of  trial  —  a  trial  also  for  the  pupils  — 
continues  on  an  average  for  about  two  years,  during  which  time 
the  teacher  is  learning  his  profession  in  a  great  measure  at  the 
expense  of  his  pupils.  If,  however,  it  should  happen  that  on  the 
average  the  masters  do  not  stay  longer  than  two  }-ears  at  the  same 
school,  we  see  that  the  pupils  have  the  questionable  advantage  of 
being  placed  under  a  constant  succession  of  raw  recruits.  This  I 
know,  is  in  some  schools  the  fact,  and,  taken  in  connection  with  the 
previous  remarks,  goes  far  to  confirm  the  general  assertion,  that 
the  great  bulk  of  the  masters  of  our  public  schools  are  unacquainted 
with  the  true  art  of  teaching  ;  a  supposition  which  serves  to  explain 
in  a  great  measure  the  deplorable  results  of  the  teaching.  But  I 
must  leave  the  case  of  the  public  schools,  simply  insisting  on  the 
importance  and  necessity  of  some  decided  improvement  in  their 
methods. 

Glancing  back  over  the  whole  field  that  we  have  traversed, 
including  primary,  secondary,  and  higher  education,  we  cannot 
but  see — •  (!)  That  the  results,  considered  merely  as  mechanical, 
answer  to  no  estimated  calculation  of  the  working  power ;  and  (2) 
That  the  general  practice  corresponds  to  no  theory  that  we  can 
construct  of  the  resources  and  capabilities  of  intellectual  educa- 
tion. We  see,  in  fact,  to  use  Mr.  Gladstone's  compendious  trav- 
esty of  Goldsmith's  lines  —  that 

"  Boys  learn  but  little  here  below, 
And  learn  that  little  ill." 

The  results,  in  short,  condemn  the  methods  by  which  they  have 
been  obtained,  and  the  methods  condemn  the  theory  on  which  they 
are  founded.  Good  methods  could  not  have  produced  such  results 


OF   SCHOOL   INSTRUCTION.  301 

—  a  good  theory  could  not  have  suggested  such  methods.  The 
improvement,  then,  that  is  needed,  must  begin  at  the  beginning, 
and  involves  an  entirely  different  conception  of  the  nature  and 
powers  of  education  from  that  which  usually  prevails  among 
teachers.  We  must  begin  by  setting  aside  the  commonly  received 
notion  that  teaching  consists  in  the  communication  of  the  teacher's 
knowledge  to  the  pupil  by  didactically  cramming  him  with  it, 
and  by  putting  in  its  place  the  notion  that  it  rather  consists  in 
encouraging  and  aiding  the  pupil  to  gather  knowledge  for  himself  ; 
viewing  the  child  as  an  investigator,  whose  mind,  by  being  brought 
into  direct  contact  with  facts,  is  to  be  stimulated  to  that  exercise 
of  the  faculties  which  investigation  at  first  hand  requires.  This 
single  consideration,  if  rightly  estimated,  revolutionizes  the  entire 
machinery  of  teaching.  (1)  It  transfers  the  essential  process  on 
which  success  depends  from  the  teacher  to  the  pupil,  who  is,  in 
fact,  teaching  himself  by  means  of  the  facts  with  which  he  is 
dealing  —  the  facts  themselves  being  the  true  teachers.  (2)  It 
explodes  the  notion  of  supplying  the  child's  mind  with  rules, 
formula;,  and  abstractions,  derived  from  facts  not  yet  within  his 
knowledge.  As  an  investigator  he  can  only  arrive  at  the  abstract 
through  the  concrete.  (3)  It  places  the  teacher  in  his  true  and 
proper  relation  to  the  learner.  The  learner,  not  the  teacher,  has 
to  go  through  all  the-  intellectual  processes  by  which  his  mind  is 
instructed  and  educated :  and  the  teacher  who  has  gone  through 
them  himself,  and  therefore  knows  them,  is  to  direct  and  guide  — 
not  in  any  way  to  supersede  —  the  process  of  the  learner.  The 
teacher's  business,  in  short,  is  by  his  action  and  influence  to  make 
the  pupil  his  own  teacher. 

Without  dwelling  longer  on  these  points,  I  beg  to  refer  those 
who  are  interested  in  them  to  Miss  Youmans'  "  Essay  on  the 
Culture  of  the  Observing  Powers  of  Children,"  just  published  by 
Messrs.  King,  and  to  the  supplementary  remarks,  which,  as  editor, 
I  have  appended  to  it.  Miss  Youmans,  with  a  view  to  secUre 
the  mental  discipline  at  which  I  have  hinted,  proposes  Botam-  as 
"  a  fourth  fundamental  branch  of  study,  which  shall  afford  a  sys- 
tematic training  of  the  observing  powers;  "  and  shows  in  a  very 
interesting  manner  how  it  may  be  pursued  so  as  "  to  secure  the 
formation  of  ideas  by  the  study  of  facts." 

If  the  views  whic-h  I  have  presented  are  correct,  they  point 
directly  to  the  reform  which  is  needed.  The  teacher  must  be 
taught  how  to  teach.  Like  every  other  professional  man,  he  must 
be  prepared  for  his  profession  by  careful  special  training.  This 


302  ON  IMPROVING   OUK   METHODS 

training  to  be  complete  involves,  in  addition  to  a  sound  knowledge 
of  the  subject  he  has  to  teach,  a  knowledge  of  mental,  moral,  and 
physiological  phenomena ;  phenomena  such  as  in  every  variety  of 
complication  he  will  meet  with  and  have  to  deal  with  throughout 
his  entire  educational  experience.  It  may  seem  strange  that  a 
lecturer  on  education  should  have  to  insist  upon  the  proposition  as 
if  it  were  new  and  unheard  of —  that  a  man  whose  whole  business 
in  life  is  to  train  the  mind ;  whose  profession  is  distinguished 
from  all  others  by  this  specialty,  should  have  a  scientific  acquaint- 
ance with  mental  phenomena.  Yet  so  it  is.  In  the  case  of  an 
ordinary  material  machine  of  delicate  and  complicated  construc- 
tion, we  require  the  engineer  who  is  to  guide  it  to  give  proofs  of 
his  theoretical  and  practical  knowledge  of  mechanics  generally, 
and  of  this  peculiar  kind  of  machine  especially,  before  we  intrust 
him  with  it ;  but  in  the  case  of  the  engineer  of  mind,  we  generally 
require  no  certificate  of  competency  whatever.  The  equipment  of 
the  teacher,  however,  is  incomplete  without  a  sound,  however 
limited,  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  Psychology  (including 
Logic)  Ethics,  and  Human  Physiology.  On  the  importance  of 
these  sciences  as  lying  at  the  foundation  of  the  science  of  education 
—  as  forming  therefore  a  proper  part  of  the  equipment  of  the 
teacher  —  I  have  no  time  to  dwell.  I  will  only  mention  that  the 
examination  of  teachers  at  the  College  of  Preceptors  requires  a 
competent  knowledge  of  them  all. 

The  theories  of  teaching  now  in  vogue  amongst  us  have  had  a 
sufficient  trial.  We  have  seen  their  practical  results  in  the  evi- 
dence brought  before  us  this  evening ;  we  see  them  everywhere 
around  us,  in  eyes  which  do  not  see,  ears  which  do  not  hear, 
minds  which  have  never  been  taught  to  think.  Their  prominent 
characteristics  are  these.  They  assume  the  native  incapacity  of 
a  child  to  comprehend  simple  truths  without  endless  telling, 
explaining,  and  thinking  for  him  ;  they  tend  to  repress  instead  of 
aiding  the  natural  development  of  his  mind  ;  they  surfeit  him  with 
technicalities,  abstractions,  and  routine,  and  make  him  a  slave  of 
rules  instead  of  a  master  of  principles  :  they  cultivate  the  lowest 
faculties  at  the  expense  of  the  highest ;  and  finally,  and  naturally, 
the}-  give  as  their  total  product,  results  which  I  venture  to  describe 
generally  as  "a  farrago  of  facts  imperfectly  apprehended,  and 
only  partially  hatched  into  principles ;  of  principles  and  rules 
divorced  from  the  facts  they  represent ;  of  exceptions  claiming 
equal  rank  with  the  rules ;  of  definitions  dislocated  from  the 


OF   SCHOOL   INSTRUCTION.  303 

objects  they  define  ;  and  of  technicalities  which  clog  rather  than 
facilitate  the  operations  of  the  mind." 

Let  us  look  for  a  moment  at  the  other  theory,  the  leading  fea- 
tures of  which  I  have  already  indicated.  It  assumes  that  the  child 
is  naturally  endowed  with  intellectual  capacity,  with  vital  forces, 
which  it  is  the  business  of  the  teacher  to  elicit,  develop,  and  turn 
to  good  account.  It  exercises  these  faculties  on  matters  of  fact 
within  his  scope  and  comprehension.  It  calls  upon  him  to  employ 
on  these  matters  of  fact  the  powers  of  observation,  comparison,  &c., 
with  which  Nature  has  endowed  him.  It  confines  him,  in  the  first 
stage  of  instruction,  to  those  concrete  matters  which  he  can 
examine  by  means  of  his  own  senses,  which  he  can  see,  handle, 
hear,  smell,  experiment  with,  himself ;  matters  which  form  a  part 
of  his  ordinary  experience  ("that,"  to  use  Milton's  words, 
"which  before  us  lies  in  daily  life,"  "to  know  which,"  he  says, 
is  "  the  prime  wisdom  ")  ;  and  treats  as  "  cram  "  rules,  formulae, 
definitions,  abstractions,  general  principles,  scientific  digests, 
dictionary  meanings  of  words,  &c. ;  all  matters  which  he  has  had 
no  hand  in  framing ;  all  indigestible  by  his  mind  in,  its  unformed 
condition ;  and  all,  therefore,  to  be  relegated  to  a  subsequent 
stage  of  instruction. 

This  theory  next  makes  him  a  pupil,  of  the  inductive  method. 
It  requires  him  to  reflect  and  reason  on  the  facts  that  he  knows,  to 
take  his  first  steps  in  generalization,  and  gradually  to  make  his  way 
towards  its  higher  stages,  while  all  the  time  synthesis  working 
conjointly  with  analysis  consolidates  the  acquisitions  made,  and 
renders  them  permanent  possessions  of  the  mind.  This  theory,  it 
may  be  remarked  by  the  way,  does  not  regard  memory  as  a  separate 
mental  faculty,  to  whose  charge  we  are  to  "  commit"  the  results 
obtained.  It  rather  looks  upon  facts  as  already  committed  to 
memory  when  they  are  thoroughly  comprehended  by  the  reason 
though  it  sanctions  and  enforces  the  intention,  by  frequent 
memoriter  repetition  of  the  facts  that  have  been  thus  gained. 

This  theory,  in  the  next  place,  requires  the  pupil,  already  prac- 
tised to  some  extent  in  rule  and  definition-making  and  in  general- 
ization, to  avail  himself  of  the  rules,  definitions,  and  generalizations 
of  others,  to  examine  into  their  meaning,  and  to  test  their  accuracy 
by  his  own  knowledge  ;  lastly,  to  deal  with  deductive  propositions 
and  trace  them  to  the  facts  and  principles  which  they  represent. 
But  I  cannot  enter  into  details. 

It  is  obvious  that  these  theories  of  education  are  inconsistent 


304      IMPROVING  METHODS   OF   SCHOOL  INSTRUCTION. 

with  each  other.     They  rest  on  different  foundations,  and  they 
must  end  in  different  practical  results. 

The  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  is,  that  our  ordinary 
methods  of  school  instruction  appear  to  fail  in  their  object,  and 
to  fail  for  want  of  better  teachers.  How  the  teachers  shall  be 
more  efficiently  prepared  for  their  difficult  and  exquisite  art  —  this 
appears  to  be  the  question  of  questions  as  regards  the  educaiioual 
future  of  England. 


ON  THE 


PAST,  PRESENT  AND  FUTURE 


OP  THE 


COLLEGE  OF  PRECEPTORS. 


ON  THE  PAST,  PRESENT,  AND  FUTURE  OF  THE 
COLLEGE  OF  PRECEPTORS.* 


THINKING  that  it  might  be  interesting  to  the  present  Members  of 
the  College  of  Preceptors  to  know  something  of  its  early  history, 
and  that,  in  presenting  some  of  the  details  of  that  history,  I  might 
find  a  suitable  occasion  for  a  few  remarks  on  its  present,  and  a  few 
speculations  upon  its  future  position,  I  have  ventured  on  intro- 
ducing this  subject  to  you  this  evening. 

If  the  historian  of  an  institution  is  the  better  qualified  for  his 
task  by  having  been  present  at  its  birth,  almost  at  its  conception, 
and  by  having  taken  a  warm  and  sympathetic  interest  in  its 
various  fortunes  ever  since,  I  hope  I  may  without  arrogance  claim 
a  right,  not  possessed  by  all  its  supporters,  to  speak  both  of  the 
successes  and  failures  of  the  College  of  Preceptors. 

I  have  said  that  I  was  present  at  the  birth  of  the  institution. 
I  may  add,  that  before  that  important  event  I  was  in  attendance, 
taking  my  part,  more  however  as  a  listener  than  as  a  talker,  in  the 
gossip  which  generally  goes  on  when  a  birth  is  expected,  and  which 
becomes  greatly  intensified  when  the  bantling  proclaims  his  own 
existence,  and  begins  to  be  an  object  of  observation  and  interest 
to  others  beyond  the  family  circle. 

At  that  time,  I  certainly  shared  profoundly  in  the  hopes  that 
were  entertained  by  the  promoters  of  the  institution,  that  it  would 
advance  steadily  and  strongly,  and  would  do  much  to  justify  its 
own  existence  and  pretensions,  and  to  prove  that  those  who  had  so 
earnestly  labored  in  fostering  it,  had  achieved  a  great  service  to 
society. 

Looking  back,  however,  now,  on  its  growth  and  so-called 
maturity  —  at  the  results  actually  attained  —  one  cannot  help 
doubting  whether  the  child  has  repaid  its  parents  for  all  their 
anxious  care  and  nursing ;  whether,  indeed  the  best  has  been 
made  of  the  faculties  with  which  it  was  endowed  —  a  serious 

*  Paper  read  at  an  Evening  Meeting  of  the  College  of  Preceptors,  June  17,  1808. 


308  ON   THE  PAST,   PRESENT,   AND  FUTURE 

consideration  in  the  case  of  an  institution,  as  well  as  ia  that  of 
a  child  grown  up  to  manhood. 

On  one  point  connected  with  the  origin  of  the  College  of  Pre- 
ceptors I  have  a  very  strong  conviction,  which  I  cannot,  without 
doing  injustice  to  my  feelings,  repress  ;  and  that  is,  that  the  motive 
which  prompted  the  laborious  exertions,  as  well  as  the  sacrifice  of 
time  and  money,  of  the  original  promoters,  was  a  simple  and  dis- 
interested desire  to  effect  a  valuable  service  for  their  fellow-teachers 
and  for  society  at  large.  And  I  must  not,  in  this  connection,  keep 
undeclared  another  conviction  which  I  hold  as  strongly,  viz.,  that 
the  outside  critics  of  the  College  have  frequently  failed  to  do 
justice  to  the  sincerity  and  good  faith  which  have,  as  a  general  rule, 
actuated  the  directors  of  the  institution.  The  College  of  Preceptors 
has  not,  it  is  generally  agreed,  obtained  the  standing  which  was 
expected  for  it  by  its  friends  ;  the  direction  and  management  have 
been  sometimes  feeble  and  inefficient,  and  many  very  important 
objects,  which  lay  especially  within  its  province,  remain  even  now 
unaccomplished.  Still  the  failure  cannot  be  attributed  to  want  of 
good  faith  and  principle  on  the  part  of  the  Council,  but  is  rather 
due  to  the  want  of  an  adequate  response  on  the  part  of  those  who 
were  intended  to  benefit  by  its  arrangements.  The  fact  indeed  can 
hardly  be  disputed,  that  the  College  was,  and  still  is,  in  advance  of 
the  age ;  and  hence,  like  all  institutions  which  endeavor  to  do  for 
society  a  service  which  society  cannot  appreciate,  must  wait  for  the 
favorable  breeze  of  public  opinion.  When  that  breeze  springs  up, 
the  College  will  recur  to  those  first  principles,  which  it  has  in  the 
course  of  time  somewhat  lost  sight  of,  and  will,  with  a  well-;devised 
machinery  already  organized,  be  prepared  both  to  obey  and  to 
direct  the  great  educational  movement,  to  which  so  many  signs  of 
the  times  are  now  pointing. 

It  may  be  well,  now,  to  give  some  idea  of  the  origin  of  the 
institution.  It  commenced  at  Brighton,  where  a  few  school- 
masters, after  mutual  discussion  of  the  itUe  mere  of  the  College, 
viz.,  the  desirableness  of  an  institution  which  should  provide  a  better 
class  of  teachers,  formed  a  Provisional  Committee,  which,  in  Febru- 
ary, 1846,  was  thus  constituted  :  —  Chairman:  H.  S.  Turrell,  Esq. 
Members :  Rev.  W.  H.  Butler,  Rev.  R.  Lee,  Messrs.  J.  Wharton, 
J.  Andrews,  J.  P.  Hall,  D.  Gunton,  R.  Stokes,  J.  Sansbury,  and 
J.  T.  Coleman.  After  various  meetings  at  Brighton,  this  Com- 
mittee called  one  in  London,  where  it  was  resolved  to  invite  the 
attendance  of  members  of  the  profession  at  a  General  Meeting,  to 
be  held  at  the  Freemasons'  Tavern.  This  meeting  accordingly  took 


OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  PKECEPTOKS.        309 

place  on  the  20th  June,  1846.  Mr.  Turrell  was  the  chairman  ;  and 
the  following  amongst  other  resolutions  were  adopted  :  — 

"1.  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  it  is  desirable  for  the 
protection  of  the  interests  both  of  the  scholastic  profession  and 
the  public,  that  some  proof  of  qualification,  both  as- to  the  amount  of 
knowledge  and  the  art  of  conveying  it  to  others,  should  be  required, 
from  and  after  a  certain  time  to  be  hereafter  specified,  of  all  per- 
sons who  ma}'  be  desirous  of  entering  the  profession ;  and  that 
the  test,  in  the  first  instance,  be  applied  to  Assistant  Masters 
only. 

"  2.  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  the  test  of  qualifica- 
tion should  be  referred  to  a  legally  authorized  or  corporate  body, 
or  college,  consisting  of  persons  engaged  in  tuition. 

"  3.  That  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  this  object  —  viz.,  the  for- 
mation of  a  corporate  body  —  the  members  of  the  profession  who 
enrol  their  names  at  this  meeting,  do  resolve  themselves,  and  are 
hereby  resolved,  into  the  COLLEGE  OP  PRECEPTORS  ;  and  that 
those  persons  now  enrolled,  or  who  may  hereafter  be  enrolled, 
shall  incur  no  liability  beyond  the  amount  of  their  respective 
annual  subscriptions. 

"4.  That  a  Council,  consisting  of  the  members  of  the  Pro- 
visional Committee,  with  power  to  add  to  their  number,  be  now 
appointed  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  the  business  of  the  insti- 
tution, and  that  Mr.  Turrell  be  appointed  President  of  the 
Council." 

It  Is  worth  while  to  pause  a  moment  here  to  consider  the  clear 
and  precise  object  for  which  the  College  was  established.  That 
object,  pur  et  simple,  was  the  testipg  of  the  qualifications  of 
teachers,  with  a  view  to  the  protection  both  of  the  scholastic 
profession  and  of  the  public.  This  test  was  to  be  applied  by  a 
legally  authorized  or  corporate  bod}',  and  that  body  was  the 
College  of  Preceptors.  Now  it  docs  appear  to  me,  that  there  was 
great  disinterestedness  and  simplicity  in  the  idte  ii\£re  of  the  insti- 
tution ;  and  it  would  probably  have  been  well  for  its  success  if  that 
idea  had  been  strictly  adhered  to.  It  would  not,  in  that  case,  have 
been  necessary,  as  it  is,  to  confess  that  an  institution  founded 
ad  7toc,  has,  in  the  course  of  22  years,  actually  certificated  a  mere 
handful  of  teachers.*  In  the  first  year  24  passed  the  examina- 
tion ;  in  the  second,  about  1C  ;  in  the  third,  fewer  still,  and  so  on 
until  we  find  the  yearly  average  of  the  last  seven  years  to  be/owr. 

*  Tt    lias    been    calculated,    for   exact   information    caiiaot   be    obtained,  that  the   total 
number  certificated  is  about  five  hundred. 


310  ON  THE  PAST,   PRESENT,   AND  FUTURE 

The  fact  is,  that  the  test,  which  was  "  to  be  applied  in  the  first 
instance  to  assistant  masters  only,"  has  scarcely  ever  been  applied 
to  any  others,  and  to  these  only  to  the  insignificant  extent  which 
I  have  just  indicated.  There  is  no  doubt  that  it  was  a  capital 
blunder,  and  a.  blunder  that  good  intentions  do  not  excuse,  to 
omit  the  naming  of  a  certain  date,  after  which  none,  whether 
assistant  masters  or  principals,  should  be  admitted  as  members 
without  examination ;  or  at  all  events,  not  to  have  made  a  clear 
distinction,  which  the  public  in  general  could  not  fail  to  appre- 
ciate, between  examined  and  uncxamined  members,  regarding  the 
latter  class  merely  as  subscribers.  Not  only  however,  was  this 
not  done ;  but  a  positive  sanction  was  given  to  the  assumption 
against  which  the  public  has  frequently  protested,  by  declaring 
in  the  By-Laws,  adopted  at  the  general  meetings  held  in  London, 
July  16,  and  Dec.  30,  1846,  that 

"1.  All  Schoolmasters  who  join  the  College  prior  to  Jan.  1, 
1847,  shall  have  the  highest  rank  the  College  confers,  namely, 
M.  C.  P. 

"2.  All  Assistant  Masters,  who  pass  the  highest  test,  either  in 
Classics  or  Mathematics,  shall  have  the  same  rank  as  principals, 
namely,  M.  C.  P." 

It  was  also  stated  that  those  Assistant  Masters  who  passed  in 
other  subjects  should  be  entitled  to  the  second  rank,  namely, 
A.  C.  P.  (i.  e.  Associate  of  the  College  of  Preceptors). 

Had  these  arrangements  been  merely  ad  interim,  something 
might  have  been  said  for  them  ;  but  knowing  as  we  now  do,  that 
the  so-called  temporary  arrangement  became  perpetual,  and  has 
never  been  positively  rescinded,  can  any  one  wonder  that  the  public 
should  from  time  to  time  protest  against  what  frequently  amounted 
to  a  sanction  of  ignorance  and  incompetence,  given  by  an  insti- 
tution especially  founded  for  the  purpose  of  testing  qualifications, 
and  inquire  into  the  real  meaning  of  the  mystic  appendage, 
M.  C.  P.  Again,  can  an}-  one  wonder  that  schoolmasters  by 
hundreds,  finding  that  hiyh  rank  in  a  learned  corporation  was  to 
be  obtained  at  the  rate  of  seven  shillings  a  letter  (for  in  many  in- 
stances the  first  payment  was  also  the  last) ,  should  have  availed 
themselves  of  the  golden  opportunity.  Never  before  could  diplomas 
(for  so  they  were  called),  be  obtained  on  such  easy  terms  as  these. 
It  is  difficult  now  to  say  why  that  which  was  unavoidable  at  first 
(for  even  Romulus  was  obliged  to  begin  with  proclaiming  an  asylum 
for  all  sorts  of  people  in  order  to  commence  his  kingdom) ,  was 
allowed  to  become  established,  and  to  lead  in  practice  to  a  complete 


OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  PRECEPTORS.         311 

perversion  of  the  very  principle  which  the  College  was  instituted 
to  maintain.  The  only  excuse  I  can  find  or  frame  is  this  —  that  the 
immense  quantity  of  business  which  soon  began  to  pour  in  upon 
the  Council,  the  great  number  of  members  that  offered  themselves 
for  enrolment,  the  establishment  of  local  boards  all  over  the  country, 
the  sending  of  deputies  to  different  towns  to  explain  the  objects 
of  the  College,  the  formation  of  an  examining  body,  the  drawing 
up  of  examination  papers,  &c.,  &c.,  involved  them  in  an  amount  of 
positive  labor,  which  for  a  considerable  time  hid  from  their  sight 
the  original  principle  to  which  everything  else  was  to  have  been 
held  subordinate.  It  cannot  be  questioned  certainly  that,  under 
their  able,  energetic,  and  high-minded  President,  the  Council  did 
get  through  an  amazing  quantity  of  work.  Those  who  talk  in  the 
present  day  of  what  the  College  is  doing  have  little  idea  of  what  it 
did  in  those  early  days.  The  single  fact,  that,  in  the  course  of  six 
months  after  the  meeting  in  Freemasons'  Hall,  sixty  members  had 
grown  into  six  hundred,  and  in  twelve  months  to  one  thousand,  is  a 
sufficient  proof  of  the  popularity  of  the  College  with  the  profession  ; 
while  the  numerously  attended  meetings  held  in  various  parts  of  the 
country,  the  establishment  of  nearly  seventy  local  boards,  each  with 
its  honorary  secretary,  and  the  patronage  of  men  of  distinguished 
position,  showed  that  it  was  appreciated  by  the  general  public.  If 
I  were  so  constituted  as  to  attach  a  great  degree  of  importance  to 
names,  I  should  dwell  more  complacently  than  I  can  do  on  the  fact 
—  which,  however,  ought  to  be  stated  —  that  the  Patron  was  the 
late  Marquis  of  Northampton,  a  man  whose  rank  among  peers  was 
his  least  distinction ;  and  that  among  the  Vice-Patrons  were 
Lord  Dudley  Coutts  Stuart,  Sir  John  William  Lubbuck,  Messrs. 
Ewart,  Godson,  Ormsby  Gore,  Hastie,  Mackinnon,  Romilly,  Wyse, 
Aglionby,  Brotherton,  Members  of  Parliament ;  Sir  R.  AVestmacott, 
Serjeant  Talfourd,  Davenport  Hill,  Dr.  Latham,  J.  W.  Gilbart, 
and  J.  J.  Sylvester.  I  do  not,  I  repeat,  attach  much  importance  to 
the  enrolment  of  aristocratic  names  in  connection  with  a  literary  or 
educational  institution.  I  have  long  believed  that  there  is  a  sort  of 
degradation  in  receiving  patronage  at  all  —  from  a  strong  convic- 
tion, that  a  man  or  an  institution  that  is  really  worthy  of  patronage 
does  not  want  it,  and  that  one  that  is  unworthy  cannot  be  made 
worthy  by  any  amount  of  patronage.  Let  a  man's  work  praise 
him,  and  he  gains  the  highest  praise.  This  is  only  an  individual 
opinion,  I  allow,  but  it  is  justified  in  the  present  instance  by  the 
results.  I  never  heard  that  the  College  was  aided  in  any  way  to 
the  accomplishment  of  its  object  by  its  patrons,  except  perhaps  in 


312  ON   THE  PAST,   PRESENT,   AND   FUTURE 

the  obtaining  of  the  Charter ;  and  that  achievement  was,  in  the 
opinion  of  many  friends  of  the  institution,  scarcely  worth  500 
pence  out  of  the  500  pounds  which  it  cost.  But  I  have  not  yet 
done  full  justice  to  the  efforts  of  the  Council  of  184G-7.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  objects  already  enumerated,  they  appointed  a  committee 
to  superintend  the  formation  of  a  collateral  Institution  for  Ladies  ; 
and  they  had  a  goodly  show  of  Lady  Patronesses  to  keep  the 
Patrons  in  countenance.  There  are  the  Dowager  Marchioness  of 
Cornwallis,  Lady  Charlotte  Lyndsay,  the  Hon.  Miss  Murray, 
Lady  Wilson,  Lady  Palmer,  Lady  Domville ;  and  the  at  least 
equally  distinguished  names  of  Miss  Edgeworth,  Miss  Corner, 
Mrs.  Ellis,  Mrs.  Marcet,  Miss  Stodart,  and  Miss  M.  A.  Strickland. 
This  feature  of  the  College,  which  it  afterwards  managed  to  lose, 
was  at  that  time  very  promising,  and  subsequently  attained  a 
considerable  amount  of  success.  A  good  deal  was  at  that  time 
said,  and  something  done,  in  the  interest  of  female  education.  An 
effective  committee  was  formed,  and  this  collateral  institution  may 
claim  a  portion,  at  all  events,  of  the  merit  of  laboring  in  a  field 
which  at  last  seems  likely  to  produce  a  crop. 

The  Benevolent  Fund  was  also  projected  at  this  time,  and  gave, 
even  then,  quite  as  much  aid  to  "  aged,  distressed,  and  afflicted 
schoolmasters,"  as  it  has  done  ever  since.  The  authority  on  which 
I  am  relying  for  the  foregoing  facts  also  tells  us  that  on  the  3d 
of  April,  1847,  the  registration  books  of  the  Agency  Department 
were  first  opened. 

It  remains  only  to  add,  that  the  Examining  Board  included  the 
names  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wilson,  of  Chelsea,  Rev.  G.  W.  Stoddart, 
and  Mr.  Eccleston,  for  Classics  ;  Rev.  J.  Hind,  Mr.  Wharton,  and 
Mr.  Boole,  for  Mathematics  ;  and  Messrs.  Delille,  Wattez,  and 
Gassion,  for  French  ;  — that  there  was  a  special  examination  in  the 
Theory  and  Practice  of  Education,  and  that  the  first  two  or  three 
papers  in  that  department  were,  at  the  request  of  the  Dean,  drawn 
up  by  myself.  Twenty-four  candidates  passed  at  the  first  examina- 
tion in  January,  18G7.  How  many  presented  themselves  I  do 
not  know.  A  characteristic  address,  from  the  Senior  Moderator, 
the  Rev.  Dr.. Wilson,  closed  the  proceedings  connected  with  the 
first  examination  ;  and  in  the  compliments  bestowed  on  the  ''learn- 
ing and  ability  "  displayed  by  several  of  the  candidates,  as  well  as 
on  the  great  "judgment  and  knowledge  of  the  human  heart," 
attributed  by  implication  to  the  examiners,  we  detect  the  couleur  de 
rose  which  was  suffused  at  that  epoch  over  the  budding  hopes 
and  aspirations  of  the  College.  Even  then,  however,  complaints 


OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  PRECEPTORS.         313 

appear  of  "  invidious  attempts  "  that  were  made  to  dim  those  rosy 
tints ;  such  attempts,  however,  only  serving  as  a  stimulus  to  the 
enthusiasm  which  was  enlisted  on  the  side  of  "  our  truly  glorious 
institution." 

It  is  a  noticeable  fact,  that  among  the  earliest  manifestoes  of 
the  College  were  Resolutions  unanimously  passed  at  a  General 
Meeting  held  at  the  Freemasons'  Tavern,  on  the  14th  Januaiy, 
1847,  which  asserted  the  principle  of  "  perfect  freedom  in  educa- 
tion," in  opposition  to  Government  interference,  and  invited 
support  for  the  College  on  the  ground  of  its  independent  and  un- 
sectarian  character.  These  professions  of  the  College,  it  is 
almost  needless  to  say,  elicited  opposition  as  well  as  support.  At  a 
public  meeting  at  Manchester,  addressed  b}'  several  very  eminent 
men,  an  amendment  on  one  of  the  Resolutions  was  moved,  utterly 
condemning  the  principle  of  freedom  in  education,  and  charging 
the  College  with  something  akin  to  disaffection  or  sedition  towards 
the  government.  It  was  also  charged  in  the  public  prints  with 
the  crime  of  dissociating  religion  from  education,  and  of  endeavor- 
ing to  prove  that  lay  schoolmasters  might  be  as  good  as,  nay  — 
such  was  the  audacity  of  the  College  —  better  than,  some  clerical. 

One  or  two  points  in  the  "  Rules  and  Regulations"  of  184G-7 
may  be  worth  attention,  as  showing  that  alteration  is  not  always 
improvement.  Then,  as  now,  the  regulation  respecting  the  elec- 
tion of  the  President  and  Vice-Presidents  of  the  Council  was, 
that  they  should  be  elected  annually.  But  then,  and  not  now,  it 
was  ruled  that  each  of  the  Vice-Presidents  should  go  out  of  office 
annually,  and  not  be  eligible  for  re-election  until  after  the  lapse  of 
one  year.  Then,  the  Vice-Presidents  were  elected  —  as  I  think 
they  ought  to  be  —  by  the  members  of  the  College,  and  not  by  the 
members  of  the  Council.  Then,  one-fourth  of  the  members  of  the 
Council  were  to  go  out  of  office  annually,  and  not  to  be  eligible  for 
re-election  until  after  the  lapse  of  one  year.  In  short,  at  that  time 
the  democratic  clement  was  in  greater  force  than  it  is  now ;  and 
the  provisions  made  against  the  Council's  becoming  practically  a 
sort  of  Select  Vestry  more  efficacious.  Nothing  can,  in  my  own 
opinion,  tend  more  to  the  deterioration  of  races,  councils,  or 
directing  bodies  generally  —  and  I  include  political  rulers  in  the 
same  category  —  than  the  practice  of  breeding  in  and  in,  which, 
unless  strongly  guarded  against,  is  almost  inevitable.  At  the 
same  time  I  am  bound  to  say,  that  the  task  of  providing  against 
this  cause  of  deterioration  rests  with  the  main  body  of  the  members,  • 
rather  than  with  the  Council  —  who  are  obliged  to  fill  up  their 


314  ON   THE  PAST,   PRESENT,   AND  FUTURE 

numbers,  and  of  course  with  nominees  of  their  own,  unless  others 
are  preseuted  to  them  by  the  popular  body.  The  College  of  Pre- 
ceptors, however,  is  not  the  only  instance  of  a  popular  constitu- 
tion aristocratically  managed,  showing  a  practical  abnegation  of 
the  privileges  conferred  by  the  constitution.  Whether  this  inac- 
tion arises  from  indifference,  or  even  from  perfect  confidence,  it 
is  in  itself  a  symptom  of  decay.  Solon,  it  will  be  remembered, 
punished  the  citizens  who  showed  indifference  to  the  welfare  of 
the  State ;  and  I  cannot  but  believe  that  a  constitution  is  then 
most  flourishing,  when  it  is  continually  receiving  fresh  blood  into 
its  veins  wherewith  to  maintain  and  stimulate  its  vital  power. 

I  ought  to  add,  in  closing  the  annals  of  the  eventful  period 
1846-7,  that  on  the  2d  October  of  the  latter  year  the  "Educa- 
tional Times  "'first  commenced  its  checkered  existence.  It  does 
not  lie  in  my  way  to  criticise  this  periodical,  which  has  had  many 
difficulties  to  contend  with  ;  but  I  must  express  my  individual  and 
personal  regret  that  education  should  be  in  England  so  small  a 
matter  of  concern,  for  its  own  sake,  to  the  great  body  of  educators, 
that  no  journal  of  this  kind,  however  well  conducted,  has  ever 
paid  the  expenses  of  its  projectors.  Every  other  civilized  nation 
but  England  —  "the  least  educated  of  all"  —  supports  many 
(Germany  forty  or  fifty)  such  publications. 

In  the  Calendar  of  the  College  of  Preceptors  for  1847,  to  which 
I  am  largely  indebted  for  the  preceding  narrative,  I  find  reference 
made  to  the  assumed  immense  importance  to  the  well-being  of  the 
College  of  a  royal  Charter  of  Incorporation,  in  order  —  these  are 
the  words  —  "that  the  scholastic  body  of  this  kingdom  may  in 
truth  be  a  profession,  and  be  equally  on  a  recognized  position  as  " 
(this  English  is  not  mine)  "the  Clerical,  Legal,  and  Medical  pro- 
fessions." The  idea,  once  started,  was  not  allowed  to  fail  for 
want  of  support ;  and  we  soon  hear  of  subscriptions  coming  in 
from  all  sides  to  defray  the  expenses  connected  with  it.  The 
fact  that  it  was  necessary  to  pay  more  than  £500  in  hard  cash  to 
lawyers  to  procure  a  sanction  from  Victoria,  Queen,  Defender  of 
the  Faith,  to  a  body  of  men  seeking  nothing  for  themselves  per- 
sonally, but  only  "to  promote  sound  learning  and  advance  the 
interests  of  education,"  is  one  of  those  strange  anomalies  which, 
with  a  crowd  of  others,  we  shall  leave  for  the  amusement  of  our 
successors.  Of  course,  the  policy  of  giving  an}*  body  of  men  such 
rights, — to  confer  diplomas,  &c., — as  were  asked  for,  might 
fairly  be  questioned  ;  but  if  the  disinterestedness  of  the  promoters 
was  unquestionable,  if  their  object  was  the  public  good,  and  if  on 


OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  PRECEPTORS.        315 

these  grounds  the  government  thought  fit  to  grant  those  special 
privileges,  then  to  load,  or  allow  to  be  loaded,  the  favor  with  fees, 
iui positions,  and  embargoes  of  one  kind  or  another  to  the  amount 
of  hundreds  of  pounds,  was  a  scandal  and  a  shame.  However, 
the  enthusiastic  promoters  of  the  College  had  made  up  their  minds 
that  this  Charter  would  have  the  magical  power  of  constituting 
the  members  ipso  facto  a  professional  guild,  to  whose  prestige, 
thus  sanctioned,  all  teachers  would  do  homage.  The  enthusiastic 
promoters,  alluded  to,  I  am  bound  to  say,  nobly  supported  their 
arguments  by  their  subscriptions,  and  maintained,  by  so  doing, 
that  character  for  disinterestedness  which,  through  the  various 
vicissitudes  of  the  College,  has  distinguished  by  far  the  larger 
number  of  them. 

It  is  surely  a  sight  of  no  ordinary  interest  which  we  have  before 
us  in  the  College  of  Preceptors  of  1847.  The  measures  I  have 
referred  to  are  being  pursued  with  extraordinary  earnestness  and 
energy,  and  so  much  approved  of  by  a  largely  increasing  dient&e, 
that  in  September,  1847,  the  members  are  spoken  of  as  having 
increased  to  above  a  thousand.  The  great  difficulty,  however,  was 
then,  as  it  is  now,  to  excite  a  corresponding  interest  among  those 
for  whom  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  whole  machinery  had 
been  set  in  motion.  It  is  so  important  to  make  this  point  evident 
that  I  will  quote  a  sentence  or  two  from  a  letter  published  in  the 
first  number  of  the  "  Educational  Times,"  in  which  the  writer,  one 
of  the  Council,  using  italics  and  capitals  to  emphasize  his  words, 
earnestly  insists:  —  "That  the  grand  fundamental  principle  or 
object  of  the  College  of  Preceptors  is  to  guarantee  to  the  British 
public  a  number  of  Masters,  possessing  not  only  adequate  literary 
and  scientific  attainments,  but  also  didactic  knowledge,  skill,  and 
experience."  "This  principle,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  with  even  a 
redundancy  of  words,  "  is  the  very  foundation  of  our  edifice  ;  this 
principle  is  the  keystone  of  our  arch  ;  this  principle  is  the  corner- 
stone of  our  temple  ;  this  principle  will  prove  the  crown  of  our 
glory,  because  it  is  the  crown  of  our  utility ;  this  principle  is  the 
DISTINGUISHING  CHARACTERISTIC  of  our  College,  tftid  gives  it,  in 
point  of  public  utility,  precedence  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  and 
any  other  university  hitherto  founded." 

In  the  course  of  1847-8,  we  read  of  meetings  more  or  less  en- 
thusiastic, in  various  localities,  having  for  their  object  the  making 
known  the  objects  of  the  College,  and  especially  that  of  the  ex- 
amination of  Teachers.  It  would  be  unjust  to  the  early  directors 
of  the  College  not  to  declare  that  this  was,  in  then:  estimation,  a 


316  OX   THE  PAST,   PRESENT,   AND   FUTURE 

matter  of  the  highest  importance.  Over  and  over  again  did  they 
maintain,  in  public  meetings,  in  meetings  of  Council,  and  in  the 
"  Educational  Times,"  that  the  real  desideratum  in  education  was 
the  teaching  of  the  teacher,  —  that  the  function  of  the  educator 
was  not  a  merely  accidental  acquisition,  but  required  experience 
gained  under  qualified  superintendence,  together  with  adequate 
knowledge  and  a  spirit  of  earnest  devotion  to  its  work.  With 
teachers  thus  trained,  education  would  assume  a  new  aspect.  It 
would  be  no  longer  a  spiritless  and  futile  drudgery,  a  heart- 
sickening  work  both  for  teacher  and  pupil,  too  frequently  ending 
in  mutual  disgust ;  but  a  noble  art,  acting  not  only  on  the  present 
child,  the  actual  pupil,  for  present  purposes,  but  fitting  him,  in  his 
turn,  to  re-act  on  society,  and  to  be  himself  an  agent  in  the  great 
work  of  human  civilization.  Is  this  a  task  for  the  ignorant,  the 
nonchalant,  the  low-minded,  the  mere  trader  in  education?  Is  it 
not  one  rather  to  tax  all  the  energies,  and  to  elicit  all  the  virtue 
and  enthusiasm,  of  the  noblest  of  the  race  ?  And  if  we  can  find 
out  and  stimulate  the  powers  of  such  men  by  our  encouragement, 
shall  we  not,  in  so  doing,  elevate  the  profession  of  which  they  are 
members,  and  perform  a  valuable  service  to  society  in  general  ? 
Such  was  the  tone  taken  by  the  founders  of  the  College  of  Pre- 
ceptors, —  a  tone  which  has  not  been  so  clearly  maintained  in  the 
years  that  have  succeeded.  In  spite,  however,  of  much  bungling 
(this  must  be  allowed)  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  officers  of  the 
institution,  —  in  spite,  too,  of  party  feeling,  which  intruded  into 
the  Council,  and  nearly  broke  the  heart  of  the  noble-minded 
Turrell,  —  the  effect  of  the  agitation  caused  even  by  opposition  to 
the  College,  was  good,  and  tended  to  enlighten  the  eyes  and  ele- 
vate the  hearts  of  many  who  had  despised  the  task  to  which  they 
had  devoted  themselves.  Well,  thus,  amidst  smiles  and  frowns, 
the  College  went  on  developing  its  aims  and  taxing  its  resources ; 
suggesting  many  schemes  which  came  to  nothing,  but  which  prom- 
ised to  be  useful,  —  such  as  an  Assistant  Masters'  Association, 
which  was  to  have  the  use  of  the  College  rooms,  and  discuss  with 
Principals  theft*  common  interests  ;  the  formation  of  an  educational 
library  to  aid  the  young  student  of  Didactics ;  the  publication 
also  for  his  use  of  a  "suggestive  manual"  on  the  Theory  and 
Practice  of  Education,  and  also  of  a  selection  of  the  examination 
papers  which  had  been  given  out  to  candidates  in  that  department ; 
the  offering  of  prizes  for  eminent  success  in  this  and  other  depart- 
ments, and  also  for  essays  on  education  ;  the  publication,  too,  of 
"  occasional  papers"  relating  to  school  economics  —  fees,  marks 


OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  PHECEPTORS.         317 

for  lessons,  organization  of  studies,  &c.,  for  the  benefit  of  princi- 
pals ;  the  publication  of  some  of  the  admirable  lectures  which  had 
been  given  to  the  members  by  such  men  as  Dr.  Reid,  Dr.  Latham, 
Dr.  Pettigrew,  A.  J.  Scott,  Philip  Kingsford,  Ryrner  Jones,  Garth 
Wilkinson,  Arthur  Henfrey,  &c. ;  the  projection  of  a  course  of 
twenty-five  lectures  directly  on  the  art  of  teaching ;  and  the  dis- 
tribution among  the  members  of  200  copies  monthly  of  the  "  Edu- 
cational Times."  These  and  many  other  schemes,  involving  a 
considerable  expenditure,  were  actively  discussed ;  while  deputa- 
tions to  important  towns,  also  involving  much  expense,  made 
known  with  more  or  less  ability — sometimes  the  latter  —  the  aims 
and  plans  of  the  College.  Many  of  these  sources  of  expense  were 
for  a  time  checked,  in  order  to  procure  at  any  cost  what  was  con- 
sidered the  enormous  advantage  of  the  Charter.  Some  corres- 
pondence took  place  as  to  the  right  of  the  College  to  the  word 
"Royal,"  which  ended  in  its  being  finally  disallowed  by  the 
Government.  The  expenses  connected  with  the  obtaining  of  the 
Charter  pressed  for  a  long  time  as  a  dead  weight  on  the  energies 
of  the  College.  I  insist  the  more  on  this  and  the  other  causes  of 
expense  just  enumerated,  because  I  consider  that  injustice  has 
been  done  to  those  whose  main  fault,  after  all,  was  that,  in  their 
endeavor  to  carry  out  the  original  principles  of  the  College,  in- 
cluding the  charter,  they  in  fact  involved  it  in  heavy  pecuniary 
responsibilities.  It  is  very  well  for  us,  who  have  adopted  the  con- 
servative policy,  pride  ourselves  on  our  money  in  the  funds,  and 
have  spent  scarcely  anything  of  late  years  in  extending  the  opera- 
tions of  the  College,  except  in  schemes  which  have  more  than  paid 
their  own  expenses,  to  speak  of  the  measures  of  those  days  with 
contempt.  I  acknowledge  that  there  were  at  that  time,  encumber- 
ing rather  than  aiding  the  Institution,  a  few  very  inefficient  officers, 
whose  services  it  was  a  difficult  and  a  delicate  task  to  get  rid  of ; 
but  J  say  that,  in  spite  of  this  severe  disability,  there  was  a  power 
and  an  energy  in  those  days  which  we  have  scarcely  maintained 
since  ;  and  further,  that  the  pecuniary  straits  of  the  College  were 
mainly  occasioned  by  the  endeavor  to  accomplish  objects  —  most 
of  them  worthy  of  praise  —  with  insufficient  means.  It  is  a  dis- 
grace to  be  poor ;  and  that  disgrace  the  College  long  lay  under. 

At  length  the  Royal  Charter  of 'Incorporation  of  the  College  of 
Preceptors  WAS  obtained,  and  public  meetings  and  a  dinner  cele- 
brated the  occasion.  What  especial  good  it  has  done  the  College, 
beyond  that  of  placing  on  record  for  all  succeeding  times  the 
original  aims  of  the  founders,  I  am  myself  rather  at  a  loss  to  con- 


318       ON  THE  PAST,  PRESENT,  AND  FUTURE 

ceive.  Neither  the  number  of  members  (at  that  time  1000),  nor 
the  number  of  teachers  examined  by  the  College,  has  been  increased 
in  the  smallest  degree  by  the  possession  of  the  Charter ;  and  com- 
paring the  present  year  with  the  year  1849, 1  must  remind  you  that 
we  have  in  the  year  1868  fewer  members  than  we  had  then,  and  of 
teachers  examined,  5  in  1868  against  16  in  1849.  I  must  extract 
from  the  text  of  the  Charter  a  few  sentences  to  show  what  it 
pledged  the  College  to  consider  as  its  primary  objects.  The  preamble 
thus  states  those  objects  :  —  Certain  persons,  especially  Henry  Stein 
Turrell,  and  others,  did  associate  themselves  together  "as  an  educa- 
tional institution  called  '  The  College  of  Preceptors,'  for  the  purpose 
of  promoting  sound  learning  and  of  advancing  the  interests  of 
education,  more  especially  among  the  middle  classes,  by  affording 
facilities  to  the  teacher  for  the  acquiring  of  a  sound  knowledge  of 
his  profession,  and  by  providing  for  the  periodical  session  of  a  com- 
petent body  of  examiners  to  ascertain  and  grant  certificates  of  the 
acquirements  and  fitness  for  their  office  of  persons  engaged  or 
desiring  to  be  engaged  in  the  education  of  youth,  particularly  in  the 
private  schools  of  England  and  Wales  ;  and  our  said  petitioner  and 
others  have  subscribed  and  collected  considerable  sums  of  money 
for  carrying  out  the  purposes  aforesaid,  and  are  also  desirous  to 
provide  a  fund  for  the  relief  of  distressed  members  of  the  said 
College  of  Preceptors  and  their  widows  and  orphans."  After 
laying  down  some  general  rules,  the  Charter  ends  in  these  words  :  — 
"  And  we  do  hereby  will  and  declare  that  the  surplus  funds  of  the 
said  corporation,  after  defraying  the  ordinary  expenses  thereof, 
shall  be  applied  by  the  Council,  but  with  the  consent  and  by  the 
direction  of  a  general  meeting  in  every  particular  case,  in  or 
towards  the  maintenance  of  poor  or  diseased  members  of  the 
College,  or  of  the  widows  or  orphans  of  deceased  members,  or  in 
or  towards  the  founding  or  endowing  of  normal  or  training  schools, 
or  in  instituting  lectureships  on  any  subject  connected  with  the 
theory  and  practice  of  education,  or  in  or  towards  founding  branch 
institutions  in  connection  with  the  said  College  hereby  incorporated, 
or  in  any  other  manner  calculated  to  advance  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion or  in  the  interests  of  the  scholastic  profession,  particularly 
within  England  and  Wales." 

The  next  important  event  in  our  history  was  the  establishment 
of  the  Examination  of  Pupils  by  the  College.  Much  controversy 
took  place  in  the  Council  as  to  the  propriety  of  diverting  to  boys 
that  organization  which  had  been  originally  intended  for  men.  Dr. 
Turrell,  amongst  others,  from  the  most  praiseworthy  motives, 


OF   THE  COLLEGE   OF   PRECEPTORS.  319 

strongly  resisted  the  proposal.  It  was,  however,  at  last  carried  ; 
aud  looking  back  on  the  success  which  has  attended  it,  both  in 
relation  to  the  College  itself,  whose  funds  have  been  augmented  by 
it,  and  to  the  schools  examined,  it  is  a  matter  of  much  congratula- 
tion that  it  was  adopted.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  scheme 
long  preceded  that  of  the  Oxford  Local  Examinations.  It  is  on 
record  that  the  first  school  examination  by  the  College  —  that  of 
certain  pupils  of  Messrs.  Goodacre  and  Cockayne  at  Nottingham 
—  took  place  at  Christmas,  1850.  The  plan  of  examination  was 
from  time  to  time  modified  and  improved,  and  in  1854  was  in  full 
operation  —  that  is,  four  years  before  the  Oxford  scheme,  and  two 
years  before  that  of  the  Society  of  Arts. 

The  time  will  not  allow  of  any  minute  reports  on  the  fortunes 
of  the  College  in  late  years.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  a  vigorous 
effort  on  the  part  of  some  of  its  members  for  liquidating  the  debt 
which  weighed  upon  it  —  the  employment  of  an  efficient  in  the 
place  of  an  inefficient  Secretary  —  the  enlisting  of  several  eminent 
schoolmasters  of  the  upper  ranks  of  the  profession  among  its  sup- 
porters, have  delivered  the  College  from  the  positive  risk  of  de- 
struction, with  which,  some  few  years  ago,  it  was  threatened. 
The  College  can  now  point  with  some  pride  to  the  nine  thousand 
certificates  it  has  awarded  to  successful  candidates  in  the  one 
hundred  and  twenty  schools  in  union  with  it,  as  well  as  to  the  fact 
that  its  First-Class  Certificates  are  recognized  by  Her  Majesty's 
Judges,  and  by  the  General  Medical  Council,  as  guarantees  of 
good  general  education,  and  therefore  as  superseding  the  prelim- 
inary Literary  Examinations  of  the  Incorporated  Law  Society, 
and  of  the  various  Medical  corporations  of  the  United  Kingdom, 
as  well  as  those  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society ;  aud  to  the  fact 
that  it  periodically  conducts  the  Preliminary  Literary  Examina- 
tions of  the  College  of  Surgeons.  Hence  the  total  number  of 
persons  at  present  examined  annually  by  the  College,  including 
the  1700  or  1800  School  Pupils,  amounts  to  nearly  2000  — "  a 
number  which"  (to  quote  the  Prospectus)  "greatly  exceeds  that 
of  the  Candidates  who  present  themselves  annually  before  any 
other  Examining  body  especially  concerned  with  the  improvement 
of  the  education  of  the  Middle  Classes." 

It  will  be  unnecessary  to  discuss  at  any  length  the  present 
operations  of  the  College.  You  are  aware,  for  the  most  part,  of 
what  they  consist.  But  there  is  one  feature  to  which  I  would  de- 
vote a  few  moments'  attention.  It  is  that  of  the  Monthly  Meet- 
ings, one  of  which  we  arc  now  holding.  They  were  commenced 


320       ON  THE  PAST,  PRESENT,  AND  FUTURE 

on  the  16th  of  June,  1861,  by  an  introductory  address  from  the 
Dean  of  the  College.  Many  gentlemen  interested  in  education, 
both  literary  and  scientific,  have  from  time  to  time  delivered  lec- 
tures, which  had  cost  them  more  or  less  of  labor  to  produce,  to 
audiences  composed  of  from  sixteen  down  to  three,  or  even  two, 
Members  of  the  College.*  The  repast  was  indeed  prepared,  but 
the  guests  were  wanting  ;  a  circumstance  which  could  hardly  fail 
to  make  the  entertainment  occasionally  rather  flat,  at  least  for  the 
entertainer.  His  feeling,  however,  was,  I  believe,  generally  one 
of  surprise  that  education  should  be  a  matter  of  such  profound  in- 
difference to  educators,  that  after  a  man,  in  some  cases  of 
considerable  experience,  had  earnestly  prepared  himself  to  com- 
municate what  he  had  learned  to  his  fellow-teachers,  only  three  or 
four  of  them  out  of  all  London  should  care  enough  about  the  sub- 
ject to  go  to  hear  him.  "Without  wearying  you  with  a  complete 
list  of  these  lectures,  I  will  mention  a  few,  in  order  to  give  an 
idea  of  their  character,  and,  viewed  in  connection  with  the  names 
of  the  lecturers,  of  their  value  :  —  Mr.  Isbister  has  read  a  paper 
on  "The  Teaching  of  Euclid;"  Dr.  Pinches,  on  "  Public  Ex- 
aminations ;  "  Rev.  W.  T.  Jones,  on  "  The  best  means  of  Regis- 
tering the  Progress  of  Pupils  ;  "  Mr.  Robson,  on  "  The  Teaching 
of  the  Classics;"  Mr.  Mason,  on  "The  Teaching  of  English 
Grammar ;  "  Mr.  Nasmith,  on  "  Teaching  Chronology  in  connec- 
tion with  History  ;"  Dr.  Ernest  Adams,  on  "The  Teaching  of 
English  Composition  ;  "  Mr.  Alexander  Herschel,  on  "  The  Study 
of  Astronomy  ;  "  Mr.  Edward  Hughes,  on  "  The  Study  of  Geog- 
raphy ;  "  Rev.  G.  Henslow,  on  "  Teaching  Elementary  Botany  ;  " 
Mr.  Melville  Bell,  on  "Visible  Speech;"  Dr.  Hodgson,  on 
"Classical  Instruction,"  on  "Economics,"  and  other  subjects  ; 
Dr.  Youmans,  of  New  York,  on  "The  Scientific  Study  of  Human 
Nature  ;  "  Mr.  Curtis,  on  "  The  History  and  Analysis  of  Words  ;  " 
Dr.  Schaible,  on  "The  Teaching  of  Modern  Languages;"  Dr. 
Buchheim,  on  "  The  History  of  Education  ;  "  Dr.  White,  on  "  The 
Apparatus  of  Education;"  Mr.  Morris,  on  "The  English  Lan- 
guage before  Chaucer;  "  Mr.  Wilson,  of  Rugby,  on  "The  Intro- 
duction of  Science  into  Schools  ;  "  Mr.  Meiklejohn,  on  "  Teaching 
English  ;  "  Mr.  Oppler,  on  "  Education  among  the  Ancient  Greeks 
and  Romans,"  &c.,  &c. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  match 

*  The  above  statement  refers  to  "Members"  of  the  College  — the  audience  has,  with 
the  addition  of  friends  of  the  Members  and  incidental  visitors,  amounted  on  a  few  occa- 
sions to  as  many  as  thirty. 


OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  PRECEPTORS.         321 

this  list,  imperfect  as  it  is,  considering  the  relation  of  the  lecturers 
to  their  subjects.  They  are  practical  subjects,  dealt  with  by  able 
and  practical  men.  They  have  not,  however,  received  the  honor 
which  would  have  been  theirs  in  any  other  quarter  of  the  civilized 
world  —  the  crowded  attendance  of  teachers.  In  Germany,  Switzer- 
land, and  the  United  States,  there  are  Congresses  of  School 
Teachers,  the  avowed  object  of  which  is  mutual  improvement  in 
their  common  art,  which  are  attended  by  three,  four,  or  five 
hundred  teachers  at  a  time.  A  teacher,  however,  in  England, 
that  requires,  or  thinks  he  does,  an}'  teaching  himself,  is  a  phe- 
nomenon of  rare  occurrence ;  not  unknown,  certainly ;  but  very 
rare. 

In  connection  with  the  present  of  the  College,  I  am  bound,  of 
course,  to  report  the  judgment  given  upon  it  by  the  Schools  Inquiry 
Commissioners.  This  general  judgment  was  founded  on  the  facts 
and  opinions  cited  by  the  sub-commissioners,  especially  by  Messrs. 
Fearon,  Bompas,  and  Fitch.  Of  these,  the  first  reported  the 
estimate  of  the  value  of  the  College,  which  prevails  in  and  near 
London  ;  and  the  last,  that  of  the  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire.  Mr. 
Bompas'  district  was  Wales,  and  -the  counties  of  Hereford  and 
Monmouth.  Mr.  Fearon  found  "  the  view  to  prevail  that  the 
College  is  now  doing  a  really  valuable  work  among  secondary 
Schools,  particularly  those  of  the  second  grade."  While,  however, 
evidently  disposed  to  think  well  of  the  College,  he  feels  bound  to 
add,  that  it  is  debarred  from  "  undertaking  the  general  control  of 
secondary  education  in  England  by  its  want  of  prestige."  "  The 
College  docs  not  occupy,"  he  adds,  4'  and  never  has  occupied,  a 
position  which  would  justify  one  in  considering  that  it  should 
venture  to  undertake  the  general  control  of  secondary  education." 
Mr.  Bompas  believes  that  "  the  College  of  Preceptors  has  not  such 
a  standing  in  public  estimation  as  to  make  masters  seek  its  certifi- 
cates." Mr.  Fitch  does  not  think  that  in  his  district  "  the  objects 
of  the  College  had  been  fulfilled  to  any  appreciable  extent."  "  I 
find,"  he  says,  "  among  schoolmasters  here,  considerable  distrust  of 
the  College  of  Preceptors. "  Several  schoolmasters  of  good  stand- 
ing, who  once  supported  it,  "  had  withdrawn  themselves  in  disgust 
at  the  shameless  use  which  was  made,  in  advertisements,  of  the 
letters  M.R.C.P.,  by  men  who  are  wholly  unqualified."  The 
College,  however,  as  Mr.  Fitch  acknowledges,  can  hardly  be  deemed 
responsible  for  such  abuses,  inasmuch  as  it  professes  to  recognize 
as  its  proper  "  degrees"  only  the  Associateship,  the  Liccntiateship, 
and  the  Fellowship  ;  "the  only  titles,"  to  use  Dr.  Kennedy's  words, 


322  ON   THE   PAST,   PRESENT,   AND  FUTURE 

"  which  imply  cither  examination,  or  any  recognition,  on  the  part 
of  the  College,  of  ascertained  professional  competency. "*  It  would, 
however,  be  unfair  to  suppress  Mr.  Fitch's  evidence  respecting  the 
persons  —  five  in  all  —  whom  he  found  in  his  district  boasting  of  the 
distinction  of  Licentiate  or  Associate :  one  of  whom  was  made  an 
Associate  because  "  he  possessed  a  Government  certificate;"  a 
second,  because  "  he  had  thrice  sent  pupils  to  be  examined  ;  "  a 
third,  "for  his  long  standing  in  his  profession,"  and  so  on.  Mr. 
Fitch  ends  by  saying  that  in  the  whole  county  he  had  found  only 
three  men  who  had  ever  been  examined  by  the  College ;  and  of 
these,  one  had  been  examined  by  papers  sent  down  to  him,  to 
which  he  had  replied  at  home,  sending  them  back  after  three  days' 
interval.  If  these  assertions  of  Mr.  Fitch's  are  founded  on  fact, 
and  not  on  misapprehension  of  some  sort,  we  cannot  wonder 
much  at  his  summing  up  his  report  on  the  subject  in  the  following 
words  —  "On  the  whole,  the  excellent  intentions  of  the  College 
of  Preceptors  have  been  chiefly  nugatory,  as  far  as  this  district  is 
concerned.  It  has  no  branch  here,  and  I  cannot  find  that  it  has 
ever  held  a  meeting  in  Yorkshire,  or  that  it  has  made  the  humblest 
attempt  to  unite  the  members  of  the  profession  into  little  associa- 
tions for  mutual  counsel  and  help."f  At  the  same  time  Mr.  Fitch 
touches  the  real  difficulty  when  he  stigmatizes  the  remarkable  lack 
of  esxwit  de  corps  among  schoolmasters  generally,  whose  relations 
with  each  other  seem  to  be  much  more  governed  by  the  law  of  re- 
pulsion than  that  of  attraction.  The  Schools'  Inquiry  Com- 
missioners, in  their  general  report,  after  quoting  the  above 
criticisms  of  their  assistants,  add  in  their  own  name  the  follow- 
ing remarks,  which  it  will  be  observed,  while  quietly  rebuking 
self-complacency  on  the  part  of  the  College,  do  at  the  same  time 
minister  to  its  honest  aspirations.  "  The  College,  they  say,  "  may 
possibly  win  a  higher  position  hereafter,  and  gain  the  confidence 
of  the  public.  All  that  can  be  said  at  present  is,  that  according 
to  our  reports  that  confidence  has  not  been  acquired  as  yet.  And 
however  good  the  examinations  may  be,  they  cannot  be  pronounced 
to  satisfy  the  need." 

I  have  not  left  much  time  for  the  future  of  the  College.  This 
department  of  the  subject  can  however  by  no  means  be  passed  over. 
There  are  many  energetic  members  of  the  Council  at  this  moment 
earnestly  employed  in  devising  means  by  which  the  future  may  be 

*  Address  nt  the  General  Meeting  of  the  Mcmhers  in  July,  1862. 

t  It  appears  from  the  Calendar  of  1847,  that  at  Beverley  and  Drlffield  there  once  were 
local  boards  with  honorary  secretaries. 


OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  PRECEPTORS.         323 

made  to  retrieve  some  of  the  errors  of  the  past.  I  think  I  interpret 
their  w  Lilies  in  expressing  my  own,  that  every  effort  that  is  possible 
should  be  made  for  extending  the  influence  of  the  College  in  accord- 
ance with  the  spirit  of  the  Charter.  It  is  true  that  the  early 
theory  of  our  Institution  has  in  process  of  time  become  somewhat 
obsolete,  so  that  it  is  not  so  easy  a  thing  as  it  once  was  to  answer 
the  question —  What  is  the  object  of  the  College  of  Preceptors?  An 
early  Councilman  would  have  replied:  " To  cany  out  the  spirit 
of  the  Charter,  and  therefore,  above  all  things,  to  aim  at  obtain- 
ing better  teachers  —  to  direct  the  training  for  their  profession, 
to  examine  them  and  certify  to  their  qualifications  —  and,  with  a 
view  to  these  objects,  to  found  or  endow  normal  schools,  where 
they  should  study  and  practice  the  art  of  teaching  under  compe- 
tent superintendence  ;  to  institute  lectureships  on  the  theory  and 
practice  of  education  which  they  should  attend  ;  to  found  branch 
institutions  as  local  representatives  of  the  College,  and  to  advance 
in  any  other  way  the  interests  of  education  and  educators."  If  a 
councilman  of  the  present  day  is  asked  the  same  question,  he 
must  blush  in  giving  his  reply,  that  the  main  object  of  the  Col- 
lege, as  interpreted  by  its  practice,  is  to  examine  the  pupils  of 
the  schools  in  connection  with  it.  The  energetic  members  of  the 
Council  to  whom  I  have  referred  would  by  no  means  disparage  the 
accomplishment  of  this  object,  which  is  perfectly  legitimate,  per- 
fectly in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  Charter,  but  they  think 
the  College  should  claim  a  much  higher  position  than  that.  The 
College,  according  to  their  views,  being  the  oldest,  as  it  is  still  the 
only  corporate,  body  in  England  established  for  the  advancement 
of  the  interests  of  education  without  regard  to  religious  or  political 
party,  ought  to  be  regarded  as  an  authoritative  embodiment  of 
the  interests  and  aspirations  of  practical  educators,  and  of  the 
theory  of  education  generally.  Those  interests  it  should  so 
authoritatively  represent  (the  authority  being  of  course  derived 
from  the  great  body  of  teachers),  that,  in  all  Government  move- 
ments respecting  education,  the  College  should  be  consulted  ;  that 
its  officers  should  advise  respecting,  and  aid  in,  Government  com- 
missions on  Education  ;  that  co-ordinately  at  least  it  should  take 
part  in  Examinations  appointed  by  the  Government ;  and  that  its 
Examinations  should  be  received  on  an  equal  footing  with  those 
of  any  other  educated  body  whatever  ;  that  in  order  to  increase  its 
influence  with  the  public  it  should  either  proprio  Mnrte,  or  by  ex- 
trinsic aid,  found  lectureships  and  professorships  in  education, 
as  well  as  found,  endow,  or  utilize  training  schools.  In  short,  it 


324  ON   THE   PAST,   PRESENT,   AND   FUTURE 

should,  in  every  possible  way,  assert  the  principle,  that  education 
is  a  science  as  well  as  an  art  —  that  there  are  degrees  of  accom- 
plishment in  this  as  well  as  in  other  arts  —  that  it  is  of  the  highest 
importance  to  society,  both  at  present  and  for  the  future,  that  this 
art  should  be  encouraged  and  honored,  and  that  those  who  by 
natural  gifts,  acquired  attainments,  and  long  experience,  have  be- 
come masters  of  it,  should  be  allowed  to  speak  and  act  with 
authority  upon  it  —  that  their  authority  thus  gained,  (and  as  rep- 
resented by  the  College)  should  be  allowed  as  against  those  who 
have  not  been  similarly  prepared,  so  that  it  should  no  longer  be 
possible  for  Government  Commissions  on  Education  to  be  consti- 
tuted without  containing  a  single  member  —  or  only  a  single 
member  —  practically  acquainted  with  the  subject  under  investi 
gation,  nor  for  Government  Inspectors  of  Schools  to  be  gentlemen 
who  up  to  the  day  of  their  appointment,  have  had  nothing  what- 
ever to  do  with  teaching. 

If  teachers  of  all  ranks  and  conditions  would  from  high  and 
noble  motives  (not  merely  with  a  view  to  some  personal  and  petty 
advantage  to  themselves)  gather  round  the  College,  even  now 
much  might  be  done.  Let  them  appreciate  their  profession  at  its 
proper  worth,  and  believing  themselves  in  its  value  to  society,  let 
each  in  his  own  person  aim  both  to  represent  that  professional 
worth  for  his  own  sake,  and  to  make  the  machinery  itself  as  per- 
fect as  possible  for  the  sake  of  society.  By  this  combination  of 
special  with  general  interests,  education  may  be  raised  to  the  rank 
of  a  profession  —  a  result  greatly  to  be  desired  both  for  the  sake 
of  teachers  and  of  society.  The  elevation  of  teachers  in  the 
social  scale  would  be  one  of  the  best  evidences  of  advancing 
civilization.  If,  however,  teachers  desire  the  end,  they  must 
co-operate  actively  and  sympathetically  to  obtain  it.  Without 
this  co-operation,  no  college,  however  wisel}-  constituted  or 
energetically  conducted,  can  act  strongly  on  public  opinion. 

There  are  many  means,  into  which  I  cannot  enter  now,  by  which 
educators  might  aid  education  in  gaining  a  position  of  power  and 
authority  in  this  country,  which  at  present  it  is  without.  Too 
man}'  teachers,  however  —  it  is  no  slander  to  say  so  —  are  so 
anxious  about  the  near  and  the  special,  that  they  disregard  the 
remote  and  the  general.  If  they  would  reject  the  narrow  theory 
which  thus  governs  their  action,  and  regard  the  interests  of  their 
profession  as  their  own  personal  interests,  they  would  in  the  long 
run  more  certainly  secure  the  object  of  their  ambition.  They 
would  find  that  a  nobler  theory  than  theirs  would  convert  even 


OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  PRECEPTORS.         325 

theirs  to  its  own  purposes,  and  give  them  back  the  result  with 
glorious  usury.  The  inau  who  aids  a  great  institution  with  a  view 
iiot  merely  to  the  good  he  can  get  from  it,  but  to  the  good  he  can 
do  it,  who  looks  with  a  generous  eye  on  the  interests  of  others  as 
involving  his  own,  and  works  magnanimously  for  that  posterity 
which  he  will  never  see,  will  find,  by  a  mysterious  connection 
between  events  and  consequences,  that  in  devising  liberal  things 
he  shall  stand,  and  be  supported,  by  them  —  that  in  watering 
others  he  shall  be  watered  himself. 

NOTE.  —  In  the  discussion  which  followed  the  lecture,  Mr.  Freeman  »aid  he  waa  one  of 
those  members  who  usually  relied  on  the  reports  of  the  meetings  which  appeared  In  the 
"  Educational  Times;  "  but  on  this  occasion  he  attended  not  only  to  hear  the  lecture,  but 
from  respect  to  the  lecturer.  This  principal  omission  in  the  paper  was  the  part  which  Mr. 
Payne  himself  had  taken  In  establishing  the  College,  of  which  he  had  been  too  modest  to  give 
any  account  whatever. 


PEOPOSAL 


ENDOWMENT    OF   A   PROFESSORSHIP 


OF  THE 


SCIENCE  AND  ART  OF  EDUCATION, 


IN   CONNECTION  WITH  THE 


(INCORPORATED    BY   BOTAL   CUAUTER.) 


PROPOSAL  FOR  THE  ENDOWMENT  OF  A  PROFESSOR- 
SHIP OF  THE  SCIENCE  AND  ART  OF  EDUCATION, 
IN  CONNECTION  WITH  THE  COLLEGE  OF  PRE- 
CEPTORS. 


A  FEELING  of  dissatisfaction,  long  entertained,  as  to  the  results 
of  our  ordinary  school  instruction,  has  of  late  found  expression 
through  many  channels.  The  Reports  of  Royal  Commissions, 
Memorials,  of  learned  bodies  to  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  the 
published  opinions  of  persons  of  authority,  and  the  all  but  unani- 
mous testimony  of  the  daily  press,  concur  in  suggesting  a  grave 
doubt  whether  such  results  adequately  represent  any  sound  theory 
of  Education.  With  this  doubt  has  arisen  a  desire  to  improve  the 
quality  of  the  teaching  in  schools,  by  making  some  provision  for 
the  better  training  of  Teachers,  especially  those  of  Middle-class 
Schools,  for  their  profession. 

This  important  object  has  long  engaged  the  attention  of  the 
Council  of  the  College  of  Preceptors.  The  College  was  authorized 
by  the  Royal  Charter  it  obtained  in  1849,  to  apply  its  surplus 
funds  towards  "  founding  and  endowing  Normal  or  Training 
Schools,  and  establishing  Lectureships  on  any  subject  connected 
with  the  Theory  or  Practice  of  Education."  In  default,  however, 
of  that  general  support  from  the  whole  body  of  Schoolmasters 
which  would  have  enabled  them  fully  to  carry  out  these  objects, 
they  have  never  been  in  a  position  to  do  so  from  their  own  re- 
sources, which,  being  mainly  derived  from  the  contributions  of  a 
few  earnest  and  public-spirited  Teachers,  are  necessarily  limited. 
While  Parliament  has  been  liberal,  not  to  say  lavish,  in  its  expen- 
diture of  public  mouoy  in  promoting  the  training  of  Teachers  for 
Primary  Schools  ;  and  while  the  claims  of  our  Universities,  as  well 
as  those  of  Science,  Literature,  and  Art,  have  been  fully  recog- 
nized by  the  Legislature,  .as  is  shown  by  the  ample  Parliamentary 
Grants  annually  voted  for  their  support ;  the  important  class  of 
Teachers  engaged  in  our  public  and  private  schools,  to  whom  so 
large  a  part  of  the  higher  education  of  the  country  is  entrusted, 
have  hitherto  had  no  means  provided  for  them  by  which  they 


330  THE   SCIENCE  AND  ART   OF   EDUCATION. 

could  obtain  any  professional  training  specially  adapted  to  pre- 
pare them  for  their  responsible  duties.  The  Council  of  the  College 
of  Preceptors  have  repeatedly  brought  this  grave  defect  in  our 
educational  system  under  the  notice  of  the  Government ;  and, 
failing  to  obtain  any  aid  or  encouragement  in  their  efforts  to  pro- 
vide a  remedy  for  it,  they  have  endeavored,  by  holding  Meetings 
and  Conferences  of  Teachers,  to  gain  for  their  object  the  sympathy 
and  support  of  the  leading  scholastic  authorities,  and  of  the  gen- 
eral public.  Finding  themselves  still  unable  single-handed  to 
cope  with  the  difficulties  in  their  path,  they  suggested,  in  a  Me- 
morial to  the  Privy  Council  in  1872,  that  the  Universities  should 
take  up  the  work,  and,  by  establishing  Professorial  Chairs  of 
Education,  follow  the  good  example  which  has  been  set  in  Germany 
and  elsewhere.  No  response  having  been  given  to  this  appeal, 
except  in  Scotland,*  where  the  subject  is  now  exciting  much 
interest,  they  resolved  at  length  to  take  up  the  matter  themselves, 
and  acordingly  instituted  a  Professorship  of  Education  —  the  first 
ever  established  in  England.  Considerable  success  has  attended 
their  experiment.  During  the  years  1873  and  1874,  nearly  140 
students  of  both  sexes  have  attended  the  Professor's  Class,  and 
derived  great  and  acknowledged  benefit  from  their  attendance. 
It  is  easy  to  see,  however,  that  such  a  Class  cannot  be  self-sup- 
porting. The  fees,  unless  very  moderate,  would  exclude  those 
whom  it  especially  sought  to  help  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
College  has  no  fund  to  fall  back  upon  for  supplementing  the  fees. 

Having  now  carried  on  this  important  experiment  for  two  years, 
the  Council  are  anxious  to  obtain  such  aid  from  the  public  as  will 
enable  them  permanently  to  endow  a  Chair  of  Education  in  con- 
nection with  the  College.  They  are  the  more  encouraged  to  hope 
for  this  aid  from  the  fact  that  the  Class  has  been,  and  is,  open  to 
Teachers  of  all  grades,  whether  connected  with  the  College  or  not, 
without  any  sectarian  or  other  restriction  whatever.  This  liberal 
and  catholic  character  thej  still  resolve  to  maintain. 

As  the  object  they  have  in  view  is  one  which  concerns  not 
Teachers  only,  but  all  classes  of  the  community,  they  appeal  with 
confidence — (1)  to  the  General  Public,  who  are  interested  in  hav- 

*  It  Is  gratifying  to  be  able  to  state  that,  since  the  above  was  written,  the  Govern- 
ment authorities  have  responded  to  an  appeal  made  to  them  by  the  Trustees  of  Dr. 
Bell's  Fund,  and  the  senate  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  for  help  to  establish  a  Professor- 
ship of  Education,  by  granting  a  sum  of  £10,000  toward  the  endowment  of  two  Professorships 
—  one  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  and  the  other  at  that  of  St.  Andrews.  The  significance 
of  this  event,  which  amounts  to  an  authoritative  recognition  of  Education,  both  as  a  Science 
and  as  an  An,  la  sufficiently  obvious. 


THE   SCIKXCK    AND   ART   OF   EDUCATION.  331 

ing  their  children  taught  on  rational  principles  ;  (2)  to  the  Friends 
of  Education,  who  have  long  complained  of  the  unsatisfactory  re- 
sults of  the  present  system,  or  want  of  system  ;  (3)  to  Principals 
of  Schools,  both  of  boys  and  girls,  who  find  an  increasing  difficulty 
in  meeting  with  Teachers  who  know  how  to  teach ;  and  (4)  to 
Teachers  of  all  kinds,  who  desire  to  see  the  standard  of  education 
advanced,  and  their  noble  profession  protected  against  the  intru- 
sion of  ignorant  and  incapable  pretenders. 

The  Council  believe  that  a  very  moderate  endowment  would 
enable  them  to  carry  out  their  object.  The  interest  of  the  endow- 
ment, with  the  addition  of  the  fees  charged  to  the  students,  would 
probably  suffice  to  engage  the  services  of  a  Professor  qualified  by 
experience  in  the  Art,  and  knowledge  of  the  Science,  of  Educa- 
tion, and  moreover  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  history  of 
Education,  and  the  methods  of  the  most  eminent  masters  of  teach- 
ing, past  and  present,  in  England  and  elsewhere.  The  lectures, 
lessons,  and  training  of  such  a  man,  enforced  by  genuine  enthu- 
siasm for  his  subject,  would,  by  inspiring  young  Teachers  with  a 
respect  for  their  profession,  and  correcting  erroneous  impressions 
as  to  the  objects  to  be  aimed  at  in  pursuing  it,  greatly  promote 
the  cause  of  Education. 

The  Council  are  fully  aware  that  the  establishment  of  a  Pro- 
fessorship of  Education  does  not  alone  accomplish  all,  or  nearly 
all,  that  is  necessary  for  the  equipment  of  the  Teacher.  They  there- 
fore have  in  view,  should  they  meet  with  sufficient  encouragement, 
the  founding  of  a  Training  College,  with  Model  and  Practising 
Schools  for  exemplifying  the  best  methods  of  teaching,  the  enlarge- 
ment of  their  present  Educational  Library,  and  the  addition  of  an 
Educational  Museum  and  Reading  Room  for  students. 

As  the  matter  itself  is  of  the  deepest  importance  to  the  interests 
of  the  whole  community,  and  as  the  need  for  dealing  with  it  is 
urgent,  the  Council  earnestly  hope  that  this  public  appeal  will  not 
be  made  in  vain, 


A 

COMPENDIOUS  EXPOSITION 


OF  THE 


PRINCIPLES    AND    PRACTICE 


OF 


PROFESSOR  JACOTOT'S 

CELEBRATED 

SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION, 


Originally  established  at  the  University  of  Louvain,  in  the  Kingdom 
of  the  Netherlands. 

BY  JOSEPH  PAYNE. 


"  Already  are  Schools,  after  the  method  of  Jncotot,  spread  over  France  and  the  Xether- 
l:imls,  already  does  almost  every  town  and  province  in  the  north  of  theao  countries  pxMNW 
either  an  establishment  upon  the  principle,  or  one  or  more  Instructors."  —  foreign  Quarterly 
Jtrttiew,  February,  1830. 

"  M .  Jacotot  a  rendu  un  service  Inappreciable  d  1'humanlte'.    La  methode  dc  M.  Jitrotot 
repose  8iir  des  princlpus  nussl  certains  quo  feconds  en  heurcux  rvsultata. —  2>e  la 
Jan/tot,  par  M.  Iffy  at  Grenoblt. 


LONDON: 

PRINTED   FUR 

E.   STEPHENS,   18,  SOUTHAMPTON   ROW,    RUSSELL  SQUARE; 

AND  SOLD  BT 

SIMPKIN  AND  MARSHALL,   STATIONERS'  HALL  COURT. 

1830. 


PREFACE. 


A  FEW  particulars  respecting  the  origin  and  progress  of  Jacotot's 
System  of  Education,  may,  perhaps,  form  au  appropriate  Intro- 
duction to  this  little  Treatise.  M.  Jacotot,  a  native  of  Dijon, 
became,  in  the  year  1818,  Professor  of  the  French  Language  at 
the  University  of  Louvain,  and  there  established  the  celebrated 
system,  which,  from  its  principle  of  unlimited  applicability,  he 
has  denominated  "Universal  Instruction."  He  here,  in  the 
course  of  his  professional  duties,  accidentally  made  the  important 
discovery,  for  which  he  more  especially  claims  the  merit  of  origin- 
ality,—  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  explain  in  order  to  teach,  or  in 
other  words,  that  the  pupil  may  be  made  to  discover  for  himself 
everything  requisite  to  be  known.  Called  upon  to  teach  the  French 
language,  while  unacquainted  with  the  native  tongue  of  his  pupils, 
he  put  into  the  hands  of  the  latter,  Fenelon's  Telemaquc,  with  a 
Dutch  translation,  directing  them  (through  an  interpreter)  to 
commit  to  memory  the  French  text,  and  to  gather  the  meaning 
from  the  version  which  accompanied  it.  These  pupils  having 
thoroughly  learned  half  of  the  first  book,  were  made  to  repeat 
incessantly  what  they  knew,  and  to  read  over  the  remainder 
attentively,  so  as  to  be  able  to  relate  the  substance  of  it.  Their 
thorough  acquaintance  with  both  the  subject  and  the  phraseology 
was  ascertained  by  rigid  interrogation,  and  they  were  then  directed 
to  write  compositions  in  French,  deriving  all  the  necessary  mate- 
rials from  their  model-book.  Their  success  in  this  exercise  sur- 

• 

prised  even  the  Piofessor  himself ;  and  on  considering  the  circum- 
stances, he  was  led  to  observe,  that  all  the  results  had  been 
attained  without  explanation  on  his  part.  He  instantly  resolved 
to  ascertain  to  how  great  an  extent  this  principle  might  be  applied, 
and  to  tell  his  pupils  nothing  whatever.  He  found  that,  as  they 
became  more  and  more  acquainted,  by  repetition,  with  the  twenty- 
four  booksof  Telemaque,  they  spontaneously  observed,  in  their  com- 
positions, every  rule  both  of  orthography  and  grammar,  until  at 


336  PREFACE. 

length  they  showed  themselves  capable  of  writing  (with  regard  to 
style)  as  well  as  the  best  French  authors,  and  consequently  better 
(as  Jacotot  said)  than  himself  and  his  professional  colleagues.  The 
complete  success  of  this  experiment  led  to  the  institution  of  others, 
in  which  the  spirit  of  the  principle  was  carefully  preserved,  and 
the  entire  pi'ocess  and  ultimate  results  accurately  scrutinized. 
The  principle  that  explanations  are  unnecessary,  was  discovered 
to  be  not  merely  general  but  universal ;  and  it  was  further  ob- 
served, that  the  method  founded  upon  this  principle  is  actuall}' 
the  method  by  which  we  acquire  everything  that  we  learn  without 
the  aid  of  an  instructor.  The  perception  of  this  identity,  tended 
to  confirm  and  harmonize  the  notions  already  springing  up  in  the 
mind  of  Jacotot,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  System. 

An  allusion  to  its  progress  is  seen  in  the  motto  to  this  pam- 
phlet, and  in  the  present  instance  this  must  suffice.  To  trace  its 
history  through  the  many  controversies  of  which  it  has  been  the 
subject,  might  be  interesting,  but  is  here  impracticable.  It  may 
easily  be  imagined,  that  the  Universal  Instruction  has  some  claims 
to  attention,  when  it  is  stated,  that  "  the  sale  of  M.  Jacotot's  own 
publications  is  immense,  and  the  number  of  explicatory  pam- 
phlets in  the  French  language,  published  in  France  and  other 
places,  almost  incredible."  *  It  is  at  length  beginning  to  excite 
an  interest  in  England,  and  already  many  eminent  private  teachers 
have  adopted  the  method  with  unquestionable  success.  A  Guide 
to  French,  in  conformity  with  its  principles,  has  just  been  an- 
nounced by  M.  Tarver,  teacher  of  French  at  Eton  College  ;  and 
M.  Henri,  one  of  the  most  zealous  of  Jacotot's  disciples,  now 
residing  at  Boulogne,  is  expected  shortly  to  introduce  the  system, 
in  a  practical  shape,  to  the  British  public. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  writer  of  the  present  Treatise  has  at- 
tempted to  unfold  the  general  principles  and  method  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages,  to  which  he  respectfully  invites  the  attention  of  all 
who  feel  an  interest  in  the  important  science  of  education.  It  is 
believed,  that  the  S3'stem  of  Jacotot  alone  deserves  the  name  of  a 
System  of  Education.  If  its  individual  principles  are  not  novel, 
the  united  whole  is  at  least  a  novelt}" ;  —  the  wonderful  results 
which  it  has  effected  are  novelties.  It  embraces  the  advantages, 
without  the  blemishes,  of  other  systems  ;  and  presents,  in  harmo- 
nious combination,  all  those  elements  that  have  ever  been  deemed, 
by  common  consent,  valuable  and  effective  in  practical  tuition. 

*  "  Foreign  Quarterly  Review,"  February,  1830.  This  number  contains  a  sensible  exposi- 
tion of  the  system,  scarcely,  however,  doing  justice  to  its  characteristic  merits. 


PREFACE.  337 

It  is,  in  short,  a  KT^O.  es  a«,  —  a  possession  for  ever ;  and  the 
writer  of  the  following  pages  feels  that  his  humble  name  derives 
an  unanticipated  degree  of  honor,  from  its  being  that  of  the  first 
Englishman  who  has  publicly  expressed  his  thorough  conviction 
of  the  validity  of  the  principles,  and  efficacy  of  the  method  of  the 
Universal  Instruction. 

3,  Rodney  Buildings, 

New  Kent  Road. 


PRINCIPLES  AND  PRACTICE 


NEW   SYSTEM   OF   EDUCATION. 


LEARN   SOMETHING   THOROUGHLY,  AND  REFER 
EVERYTHING  ELSE  TO   IT. 

THE  above  sentence  comprises  the  entire  method  of  the  Universal 
Instruction.  Whenever  this  precept  is  neglected,  the  constitu- 
tional character  of  the  system  is  disregarded,  and  the  success  of 
the  teacher's  endeavors  is  no  longer  guaranteed  by  M.  Jacotot. 
The  spirit  of  it  so  completely  pervades  every  part  of  the  machinery 
of  the  method,  that  the  one  cannot,  by  any  means,  be  separated 
from  the  other.  As,  however,  the  terms  in  which  it  is  expressed 
may  not  intuitively  convey  the  requisite  notions  to  the  mind  of  the 
reader,  an  attempt  will  be  made  to  develop  more  fully  their  strict 
signification,  as  connected  with  the  system  of  Jacotot.  Their  real 
import  here  is,  that  whatever  department  of  education  be  in 
question,  something,  —  some  particular  fact,  or  group  of  facts,  — 
shall  be  thoroughly  impressed  on  the  memory  and  comprehended 
by  the  judgment;  and  that  this  individual  fact  or  group  of  facts, 
shall  serve  as  a  kind  of  rallying  point,  around  which  all  other 
facts,  subsequently  acquired,  shall  be  made  to  attach  themselves, 
according  to  their  resemblances  and  inherent  relations.  The  habit 
thus  formed,  of  referring,  by  reflection,  everything  learned  for  the 
first  time  to  something  previously  learned,  tends,  of  course,  to 
connect  the  entire  mass  together;  and  in  this  is  seen  the  superi- 
ority, as  well  as  the  peculiarity,  of  Jacotot's  System  of  Education. 
This  system  is  indeed  entirely  conformable  to  the  laws  of  Nature, 
and  the  generally  received  opinions  of  common  sense.  He  only 
can  be  said  to  understand  a  subject  thoroughly,  who  distinctly 
perceives  the  relation  of  every  part  of  it  to  every  other  part,  and 
who  clearly  traces  the  entire  series  of  associated  ideas  which  make 


840  P111HC1PLES  AND  PRACTICE  OF 

up  the  whole,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  or  back  from  the  end 
to  the  beginning.  But  who  can  do  this?  All,  indubitably,  who 
are  instructed  by  the  method  of  Jacotot ;  for  this  method  leads 
uniformly  and  invariably  to  that  end.  Will  not  every  one  then 
agree,  that  the  system  which  can  accomplish  so  important  a  design 
is  undeniably  superior  to  all  others  that  have  hitherto  been  pro- 
jected ?  —  Without  doubt,  if  it  can  be  done.  —  But  it  has  been 
done,  and  repeatedly,  and  the  reader  will  presently  judge  for 
himself,  whether  the  process  followed  is  likeh"  to  effect  its  purpose. 
It  may  not  be  amiss  to  consider,  in  the  first  instance,  what  is 
generally  meant  by  the  expression,  —  learning  a  thing.  To  learn 
anything  is  evidently  not  the  same  as  to  forget  it ;  yet  we  might 
almost  imagine  it  were,  by  referring  a  moment  to  the  common 
plan  pursued  in  the  old  method.  Will  any  one  maintain  that, 
speaking  generally,  at  the  end  of  his  seven  years  or  more  of  school 
instruction,  he  actually  recollects  one  thousandth  part  of  the  facts 
that  have  been  brought  before  him,  or  the  observations  that  have 
been  addressed  to  him,  connected  with  the  course  of  tuition  ?  A 
considerable  portion  of  all  this  combined  mass  of  information  has 
remained  perfectly  unintelligible  to  him,  from  the  first  moment 
that  it  was  introduced  to  his  notice,  to  the  time  at  which  he  throws 
down  his  books  and  enters  on  the^  world.  He  perceived  neither 
the  end  nor  the  design  of  it ;  and  perhaps  even  the  terms  in  which 
it  was  expressed  were  never  thoroughly  comprehended,  although 
repeated  incessantly  in  his  hearing.  In  illustration  of  this  it  ma}- 
be  asked,  Does  one  child  in  a  hundred  understand  a  single  page  of 
that  book  which  is  put  into  his  hands  as  soon  he  can  read,  and 
over  which  he  pores,  year  b}*  year,  and,  at  length,  by  dint  of  con- 
stant repetition,  has  thoroughlj-  impressed  on  his  memory  —  the 
English  Grammar?  This  may  well  be  doubted.  He  learns, 
indeed,  what  is  to  him  a  jargon  of  unintelligible  technicalities,  like 
nothing  that  he  meets  with  in  the  conversation  of  his  comrades 
and  friends,  or  in  the  language  of  those  juvenile  volumes,  which  a 
nascent  taste  for  reading  may  induce  him  to  peruse :  and  after  all, 
he  is  at  a  loss  to  conceive  of  what  use  it  is  for  him  then  to  know, 
that  a  verb  is  a  word  which  signifies  to  be,  to  do,  or  to  suffer ;  or 
that  there  are  two  kinds  of  conjunctions,  the  copulative  and  the 
disjunctive.  It  would  be  absurd  to  ask  him  if  he  thoroughly 
understands  these  words,  for  it  is  quite  impossible,  even  if  the 
individual  terms  be  explained  to  him  ;  if,  for  instance,  he  perceives 
tolerably  well  what  is  meant  by  the  words  conjunction,  copulative 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION.      341 

and  disjunctive,  how  can  any  idea  be  received  into  his  mind,  of  a 
something  which  separates  while  it  joins  :  and  even  supposing  the 
present  difficulty  surmounted,  does  not  the  question  incessantly 
recur  to  him,  What  is  the  use  of  all  this?  You  tell  him  he  cannot 
speak  properly  unless  he  understands  grammar ;  but  he  does  not, 
he  cannot,  perceive  why  it  should  be  so  ;  and  perhaps  he  wonders 
how  it  is  that  he  contrives  to  utter  a  correct  sentence  without 
recollecting,  at  the  moment  of  utterance,  all  the  grammatical  rules 
which  have  been  so  constantly  urged  upon  his  attention.  He  how- 
ever infers,  that  he  does  very  often  speak  correctly,  because  he 
uses  the  same  expressions  as  everybody  else ;  and  the  point  of 
mystery  is,  that  he  chances  to  do  so  without  remembering  the 
rules  of  grammar.  The  same  remarks  will  appty,  more  or  less,  to 
many  others  of  the  generalities  which,  in  the  common  course  of 
instruction,  a  pupil  is  called  upon  to  learn,  but  which  he  cannot, 
from  a  want  of  the  information  previously  requisite,  understand. 
Even,  however,  supposing  that  he  does  actually  acquire  a  number 
of  really  useful  facts,  they  form  in  his  mind  an  indir/esta  moles,  a 
shapeless  mass,  in  which  he  perceives  neither  order  nor  connection. 
He  has  not  been  taught  by  the  method  of  Jacotot,  to  refer  every- 
thing learned  for  the  first  time  to  something  previously  learned ; 
and  he  cannot,  therefore,  perceive  the  relation  which  the  latter 
.  bears  to  the  former.  But  there  must  necessarily  exist  a  relation. 
Unless  the  parts  of  the  book  committed  to  memory  had  been  con- 
nected with  each  other,  in  the  mind  of  the  author,  he  would  of 
course  have  produced  a  disorderly  patchwork  of  incoherent  facts. 
But  this  is  not  the  case,  at  least  in  any  approved  work  ;  and  if 
this  be  not  the  case,  if  it  was  necessary  for  the  author  to  see 
clearly  the  end  and  aim  of  all  that  he  proposed  to  write  in  order 
to  convey  a  connected  idea  of  the  subject  to  the  reader,  it  must  be 
equally  necessary  for  the  reader,  if  he  wishes  to  understand  the 
subject  as  well  as  the  author,  to  gain  possession  of  the  entire  series 
of  facts,  which  compose  the  subject,  as  presented  to  his  view. 
This,  however,  cannot  be  done,  unless  the  pupil  is  taught  to  con- 
nect what  he  learns  one  day  with  all  that  he  has  learned,  relating 
to  the  same  subject,  on  every  previous  day,  from  the  time  when  it 
was  first  urged  on  his  attention.  But  the  facts  forgotten  cannot, 
of  course,  be  connected  with  those  remembered  ;  though  it  is  easily 
seen,  that  were  these  supplied,  the  whole  subject  would  be  before 
the  mind.  This  leads  again  to  the  remark  previously  made,  that 
scarcely  a  thousandth  part  of  what  is  learned  (using  the  word  in 
its  conventional  sense)  at  school,  is  retained  for  use  in  the  actual 


342  PRINCIPLES   AND   PRACTICE   OF 

business  of  life ;  though  this,  most  evidently,  was  the  ostensible 
purpose  throughout  the  entire  course. 

If  the  considerations  here  adduced  be  thought  to  have  any 
weight,  they  must  evince  one  of  two  things,  —  either  the  positive 
incapacity  of  pupils  of  the  usual  scholastic  age  to  comprehend 
any  subject  in  the  manner  referred  to,  or  the  defectiveness  of  the 
customary  method  of  tuition.  It  would  be  impossible,  in  the  face 
of  countless  instances  in  opposition,  to  maintain  the  former  asser- 
tion. If  a  child  can  be  made  to  commit  to  memory,  and  understand 
one  sentence,  for  instance,  there  seems  no  physical  obstacle  to  his 
doing  the  same  with  another,  still  retaining  the  first  in  his  memory 
by  constant  repetition,  and  thus  connecting  the  new  fact  with  all 
that  preceded  it.  This  is  the  method  of  Jacotot,  and  he  has  proved 
incontestably  both  the  possibility  and  the  effectiveness  of  such  a 
process.  He  indeed  asserts,  that  the  youngest  child  can  comprehend 
thoroughly  the  terms  representing  the  most  complex  abstract  notions, 
that  is,  if  he  previously  well  understands  all  the  simple  subordinate 
notions  contained  in  those  that  are  complex.  Whether  such  attain- 
ments as  these  here  referred  to,  be  within  the  reach  of  any  child, 
even  the  youngest,  'is  only  doubted  by  those  who  have  never 
attempted  to  satisfy  themselves  by  actual -experiment.  The  proba- 
bility of  success,  at  least,  will  be  presently  shown.  While  a  pupil, 
by  any  particular  method,  can  be  taught  to  acquire  more  than  he 
would  have  done  by  another  given  method,  it  is  absurd  to  tax  the 
incapacity  of  the  pupil  for  that  which  is  decidedly  the  fault  of  the 
plan  of  tuition  pursued.  The  general  question,  however,  to  which 
this  remark  would  lead,  as  to  the  actual  fitness  of  the  particular 
systems  of  Education  now  in  use,  to  the  real  purposes  for  which 
instruction  is  needful  and  valuable,  will  not  here  be  investigated. 
Two  or  three  facts,  from  which  the  inferences  requisite  to  the  view 
now  intended,  may  be  drawn,  are  sufficiently  obvious  to  the  per- 
sonal experience  of  all.  After  sedulously  going  through  all  the 
manoeuvres  of  instruction,  for  several  years,  we  come  from  school 
to  begin  our  education  afresh,  according  to  the  particular  objects 
which  it  may  be  desirable  for  us  to  attain  in  life.  We  are  in  pos- 
session, indeed,  of  a  vast  number  of  facts,  but  they  lie  for  the 
most  part  unconnectedly  and  incoherently  in  the  mind.  Of  a 
number  of  others  we  have  a  loose  and  vague  notion,  just  sufficient 
to  admit  of  consciousness  that  they  exist,  and  have  names  attached 
to  them,  which  names  we  know  well,  without  knowing  the  things 
themselves.  Still  less,  however,  in  these  latter  fragments  of 
knowledge  than  in  the  former,  do  we  perceive  any  sort  of  cohe- 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION.  343 

rency  or  natural  connection :  and  upon  a  review  of  the  whole  of 
our  acquirements,  during  the  long  time  that  we  have  been  employed 
in  making  them,  the  feeling  which  takes  full  possession  of  our 
mind  is,  —  that  nine-tenths  of  all  that  we  learned  has  been  for- 
gotten ;  — that  we  are  well-acquainted  with  no  one  subject  what- 
ever ;  —  and  that  in  nearly  every  point  which  most  concerns  us, 
we  are  — 

Unpractis'd,  unprepar'd,  and  still  to  seek. 

But  by  the  system  of  Jacotot,  the  faculties  of  the  mind  are  kept 
in  constant  action,  from  the  commencement  to  the  end  of  the 
course  of  instruction  ;  the  first  acquisitions,  as  well  as  all  that 
succeed,  are  permanently  retained,  and  accordingly,  everything 
learned  once  is  learned  for  ever.  This  is  a  most  essential  point 
secured ;  for  the  time  and  labor  spent  upon  the  acquirement  of 
that  which  is  not  retained,  must  be  considered  as  utterly  lost.  He 
is  not  rich  who  has  had  a  large  fortune,  but  he  who  is  still  in 
possession  of  it,  and  who  can  avail  himself,  at  his  pleasure,  of  the 
advantages  which  it  furnishes.  Hence,  says  Jacotot,  "  We  are 
not  learned  merely  because  we  have  been  taught,  ice  are  learned  only 
when  we  have  retained."  A  thorough  helluo  librorum  may,  like 
Magliabcchi,  devour  six  large  roomsful  of  books  and  yet  leave  it 
on  record,  as  he  did,  that  the  reader  of  a  vast  quantity  knows  but 
little  of  what  he  reads.  One  single  book,  thoroughly  understood 
and  impressed  on  the  memory,  is  of  more  service  to  the  mind  than 
fifty  hastily  skimmed  over,  and  forgotten  even  sooner  than  read. 
And  in  the  application  and  modification  of  this  principle  consists 
the  entire  method  of  Jacotot.  "  But  there  is  nothing  new  in  this 
plan,"  some  will  remark,  "it  has  often  been  acted  on  before." 
This  is  not  questioned  for  a  moment.  It  has  often  been  acted  on 
before,  and,  as  our  author  remarks,  no  man  ever  became  great 
without  adopting  and  pursuing  it.  No  one  ever  attained  a  com- 
plete and  profound  knowledge  of  any  subject  but  by  means  of  tin- 
principle  now  first  proposed  for  adoption  in  the  elementary  st;i 
of  education.  Whatever  we  wish  to  learn,  whatever  it  becona  s 
absolutely  necessary  for  us  to  learn,  we  acquire  by  this  method, 
and  by  no  other.  We  cannot  even  understand  what  we  read 
without  it.  How  can  we  be  entertained  by  the  perusal  of  a  simple 
tale  or  novel,  unless  we  comprehend  all  the  circumstances,  as  they 
rise  before  us,  and  refer  those  which  appear  for  the  first  time  to 
those  which  have  already  come  under  our  view  ?  He  who  retains 
in  his  memory  the  greater  number  of  these  circumstances,  will,  if 


344          PRINCIPLES  AND  PRACTICE  OF 

the  work  be  well  executed,  receive  far  greater  pleasure  from  the 
perusal,  than  he  who  forgets  most  of  them,  as  he  turns  over  the 
pages  in  which  they  are  contained.  The  one  will  perceive  beau- 
$ies  which  are  to  the  other  perfectly  invisible ;  the  former  will 
comprehend  the  force  of  numerous  allusions  and  acute  witticisms, 
which  are  to  the  latter  quite  unintelligible.  The  proviso  has  been 
made,  if  the  work  be  well  executed  ;  for  it  is  evidently  a  suppos- 
able  case,  that  the  reader  may  examine  more  closely  the  several 
parts  of  the  work,  their  fitness  to  each  other,  and  harmonious 
combination  in  forming  the  whole,  than  did  even  the  author  him- 
self during  the  composition  of  it.  Many  a  work  which  has  ob- 
tained a  fair  reputation  could  ill  bear  this  scrutiny.  Many  an 
author  is  indebted  to  the  careless  memory  of  his  readers  for  the 
facility  with  which  his  own  faults  escape  undetected.  A  truly 
great  work,  however,  can  be  submitted  to  this  sort  of  examina- 
tion. We  here  observe,  that  ever}*  word,  sentence,  and  circum- 
stance, has  its  own  duty  to  perform,  and  is  placed  in  that  order 
of  situation  which  shall  most  conduce  to  the  perfection  of  each 
part,  and  the  perfect  harmony  and  unity  of  the  whole.  Now  we 
cannot  thoroughly  enter  into  the  spirit  of  an  author,  but  by  tracing 
his  design  throughout  all  that  he  presents  to  us  ;  —  from  an  investi- 
gation of  the  minute  component  particulars  we  obtain  general 
notions,  and  by  comparing  these  amongst  themselves,  we  obtain 
others  still  more  general,  till  at  length,  by  this  analytical  process, 
we  arrive  at  the  very  point  from  which  his  mind  first  started,  and 
look  back  upon  the  whole  in  the  same  way,  and  with  the  same 
train  of  feelings,  as  those  with  which  he  prospectively  surveyed 
it.  Hence  it  is  seen,  that 'though  the  route  which  we  traverse  is 
in  a  precisely  contrary  direction  to  that  along  which  the  author 
passed,  — the  one  being  analytical,  and  the  other  synthetical,  yet 
that  in  the  course  of  it,  we  must  necessarily  pass  through  all  the 
associated  ideas,  with  the  variety  of  feelings  and  sentiments 
excited  by  them,  which  linked  and  developed  themselves  in  the 
mind  of  the  writer  who  gave  them  expression.  It  follows  from 
this,  that  if  it  be  necessary  for  him  to  emplo}*  every  word  and 
phrase  that  he  does  emploj*,  in  order  to  conve}*  to  us  the  ideas  or 
sentiments  which  he  himself  perceived  and  felt,  it  must  be  equally 
necessary  for  us  to  notice  and  comprehend  each  individual  word 
and  expression,  that  we  may  trace  on  the  tablet  of  our  own  mind 
an  exact  copy,  both  in  design  and  coloring,  of  that  picture  which 
he  has  presented  to  our  view.  Now  if  he  used  more  words  than 
were  necessary,  —  if,  again,  any.  of  these  failed  to  transfer  the 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION.  345 

idea  which  he  had  pictured,  to  our  mind — so  far  is  his  perform- 
ance faulty ;  and  it  is  not,  on  this  account,  that  he  is  considered 
a  fine  or  correct  writer.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  he  avoids  the 
commission  of  these  faults,  so  does  he  approach  towards  positive 
perfection,  and  attain  the  envied  reputation  of  a  truly  great  author. 
"  But,"  it  may  be  said,  "  what  have  all  these  critical  observa- 
tions to  do  with  the  system  of  Jacotot?  Children  cannot  criticise 
individual  words  and  expressions,  and  perceive  the  design,  or 
detect  the  faults  and  beauties  of  an  admired  literary  composition." 
To  this  it  is  answered,  that  M.  Jacotot  has  imagined,  or  to  speak 
correctly,  has  proved  beyond  a  doubt  that  little  girls  and  boys,  of 
between  the  ages  of  ten  and  fourteen,  can  do  everything  here 
enumerated,  not  only  with  the  classical  authors  of  their  own 
language,  but  with  those  of  any  foreign  language  (living  or  dead) 
which  they  may  be  studying  ;  —  and  the  observations  referred  to 
embrace  in  part  the  method  of  the  system.  The  pupil  of  the  Uni- 
versal Instruction  is  taught  to  believe,  that  every  word  used  by  a 
good  writer  modifies  in  some  respect  the  idea  intended  to  be 
conveyed,  and  that  therefore,  to  understand  the  whole,  he  must 
understand  each  individual  part ;  and  he  is  never  said  to  have 
learned  a  thing  which  he  does  not  thoroughly  comprehend  (that 
is,  receive  altogether)  in  his  mind,  by  an  accurate  perception  of 
every  subordinate  notion,  and  of  all  its  relations  with  what  he  has 
previously  learned.  The  knowledge  thus  gained  is  not  likely  to 
escape  quickly  from  the  mind  ;  and  the  practice  of  incessant  repeti- 
tion, which  is  the  soul  of  the  system,  renders  permanent  the  first  and 
all  intervening  ideas  received  by  the  understanding ;  so  that  of 
the  mass  of  information  ever  rolling  on,  and  becoming  augmented 
by  contributions  from  all  sides,  may  be  justly  said  — 

Vires  acquirit  eundo. 

But  it  maybe  well  to. enter  more  particularly  into  the  details  of 
the  method  pursued,  that  the  fitness  of  the  means  to  attain  the 
cud  predicted  in  the  foregoing  observations  may  be  at  once 
perceived. 


READING  AND  WRITING. 

Instead  of  spending  some  few  years  in  the  acquisition  of  these 
very  useful  elementary  arts,  as  is  generally  the  case  by  the 
common  method,  the  pupils  of  Jacotot  learn  to  read  and  write  in 


PRINCIPLES   AND   PRACTICE   OF 

about  a  fortnight !  —  at  the  termination  of  which  period  they  are 
deemed  capable  of  beginning  the  study  of  the  vernacular  language, 
according  to  the  method  which  will  shortly  be  explained.  In 
perfect  consistency  with  the  harmony  and  unity  of  design,  which 
pervades  the  entire  system,  the  little  pupil  is  taught  to  acquire,  at 
the  very  commencement  of  his  studies,  those  mental  habits  which 
are  the  grand  means  of  success  in  his  advancement  throughout  the 
entire  course.  He  is  at  once  taught  to  LEARN  SOMETHING 

THOROUGHLY,    AND    TO    REFER    EVERYTHING     ELSE    TO    IT  ;     and,    CO11- 

sequently,  begins  to  notice  resemblances  and  differences,  to 
exercise  his  judgment,  to  analyze,  to  generalize,  and  in  short,  to 
bring  into  play  nearly  the  whole  of  his  intellectual  faculties.  To 
attain  these  advantages,  all  the  customary  helps  of  alphabets, 
primers,  spelling-books,  first  readings,  &c.,  &c.,  are  neglected, 
and  some  standard  classical  work  (generally  that  which  is  to  be 
his  chief  guide  afterwards  in  the  acquisition  of  the  language)  is 
put  into  the  hands  of  the  pupil.  In  answer  to  anticipated  objec- 
tions, it  may  be  here  stated,  that  the  young  student  is  not 
expected,  at  this  stage  of  his  progress,  to  understand  what  he  is 
taught  to  read.  It  is,  however,  highly  probable,  that  his  ideas 
will  be  quite  as  clear  and  definite  upon  the  subject,  whatever  it 
may  be,  as  those  which  he  would  have  obtained  by  poring  over 
the  cabalistical  syllables,  ba,  be,  bi,  bo,  bu,  cat,  lat,  tat,  &c.,  &c., 
in  all  their  array  of  conceivable  combinations. 

The  work  selected  for  the  initiation  of  the  pupil,  and  for  pur- 
poses hereafter  to  be  mentioned,  must,  of  course,  depend  upon 
the  will  of  the  master.  In  the  present  instance,  merely  for  con- 
venience, reference  will  be  continually  made  to  the  English 
translation  of  Telemachus,  since  Fenelon's  elegant  fiction  is  the 
work  chosen  by  M.  Jacotot  as  the  standard  or  model-book  of  his 
French  pupils  while  acquiring  the  knowledge  of  their  own  language. 

Supposing,  then,  that  Dr.  Hawkesworth's.  Translation  of  Tele- 
machus were  the  work  selected,  (though,  of  course,  no  English 
teacher  would  adopt  this  as  a  model  of  English  composition),  the 
attention  of  the  pupil  is  at  once  directed  by  the  master  to  the 
opening  sentence  of  the  first  book,  which  runs  as  follows  — 

"  The  grief  of  Calypso  for  the  departure  of  Ulysses  would  admit 
of  no  comfort." 

Pointing  to  the  word  "  The  "  the  master  pronounces  it  in  a  very 
distinct  tone,  and  directs  the  pupil  to  repeat  it  after  him.  He 
then  recommences  with  the  first  word  and  adds  the  second,  and 
the  two  words  are  repeated  in  succession  by  the  pupil.  Beginning 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION.  347 

again,  the  third  word  is  added,  and  the  three  are  repeated  by  the 
child  accordingly.     The  same  process  is  used  with  the  fourth  word, 
still  recommencing  with  the  first.     A  pause  is  now  made,  and  the 
pupil  is  at  once  called  upon  to  exercise  his  faculty  of  noticing  resem- 
blances and  differences.      He  is  asked  to-  point  out  the  respective 
situations  of  the  words  "  Calypso,"  "  grief,"  "of,"  "  the  ;"  the 
interrogation,  after  this  manner,  being  continued  till  he  can  show, 
without  the  slightest  hesitation,  the  place  of  each.     He  thus  learns 
to  distinguish  them   from  one  another.     Any  page  of  the  book  is 
then  opened,  and  some   particular  sentence  or  line  being  pointed 
out  to  him,  he  is  asked  if  the  words  that  he  knows  are  to  be  found 
there.     If  he  is  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  forms  of  them  by 
the  previous  interrogation,  he  will  have  no  great  difficulty  in  per- 
ceiving those  of  the  same  form,  in  whatever  part  of  the  book  they 
may  be.     As  soon  as  the  master  is  assured  that  the  child  is  in 
thorough  possession  of  these  four  words,  he  goes  on  adding  succes- 
sively the  remaining  words  of  the  sentence, -always  recommencing 
with  the  first.     If  the  child  becomes  well  acquainted  with  the  word 
"  of  "  when  first  met  with,  he  is,  of  course,  expected  to  recognize 
it  twice  afterwards  in  this  sentence.    The  process  of  interrogation 
pursued  at  the  end  of  the  first  four  words  is  now  repeated  with 
each  word  of  the  sentence,  until  the  child  learns  accurately  to 
distinguish  those  words  which  are  different,  to  recognize  the  like- 
ness between  those  which  are  similar,  and  to  point  out  any  word 
of  this  sentence  in  any  page  of  the  book  that  may  be  opened 
before  him.     Proceeding  according  to  strict  analysis,  the  master 
now  recommences  the  examination  of  each  word  of  the  sentence, 
dividing  every  word  of  more  than  one  syllable  into  its  component 
syllables,  thus  —  "  The  grief  of  Ca-lyp-so  for  the  de-par-turc," 
&c.     The  pupil  is  then  called  upon  to  notice  and  distinguish  each 
syllable,  after  the  same  plan  as  that  pursued  with  respect  to  entire 
words,  and,  at  length,  he  is  made  acquainted  with  the  name  of 
ever}'  letter.     After   he  has  been  well  exercised,  in  this  manner, 
upon  a  few  sentences,  the  teacher  directs  him  to  go  on  by  himself, 
without  previously  pronouncing  the  words  to  him,  arid  only  assists 
him  when  he  meets  with  a  word,  syllable  or  letter,  which  has  never 
before  come  under  his  notice.     Still,  however,  he  must  recommence 
with  the  first  icord  learned,  as  it  is  by  this  means  only  that  all  his 
previous  acquisitions  are  permanently  retained.     He  soon  begins 
to  have   the   first   three   or   four   sentences,  thus  so  frequently 
repeated,  impressed  on  his  memory,  and  is  told  to  spell  them,  divid- 
ing them  into  their  component  syllables  and  letters,  from  recollec- 


348  PRINCIPLES   ANp   PRACTICE   OP 

tion.  After  about  sixty  lines  have  been  thus  gone  through,  he 
cannot  fail  to  be  acquainted  with  nearly  all,  if  not  all,  the  letters 
of  the  alphabet,  and  with  a  vast  variety  of  their  combinations.  It 
is,  indeed,  considered,  that  he  is  now  taught  to  read,  if  any 
hesitation,  indicative  of  imperfect  perception,  is  evident  in  the 
pupil,  the  master  must  return  to  the  same  words,  syllables  or 
letters,  until  they  are  thoroughly  distinguished  and  comprehended. 
By  this  means,  every  new  acquisition  becomes  permanent,  and 
every  effort  brings  with  it  the  proof  of  some  progress.  Hence,  as 
has  been  before  remarked  generally,  there  is  no  lost  labor.  If  the 
pupil  should  only  learn  one  word  in  an  hour,  yet  is  that  word  for 
ever  learned,  and  indelibly  stamped  on  the  memory  by  the  inces- 
sant repetition  of  the  first  thing  required,  which  is  the  very  life  of 
the  system.  The  pupil  is  never  to  be  assisted,  except  in  what  is 
introduced  to  his  notice  for  the  first  time.  That  which  he  has 
already  learned,  he  is  expected  to  recognize  wherever  he  may  meet 
with  it.  It  is  he,  and  not  the  master,  who  is  to  make  remarks, 
and  discover  relations  of  difference  and  similarity.  The  master 
asks  a  great  number  of  questions,  and  causes  the  pupil,  whenever 
a  wrong  answer  is  given,  t&  discover  for  himself  the  error  into 
which  he  has  fallen.  To  do  this,  he  must  reflect,  he  must  make 
comparisons,  and,  however  young  he  may  be,  these  operations  of 
the  mind  are  certainly  within  his  reach,  and  nothing  but  a  want  of 
attention  can  prevent  him  from  performing  them  successfully. 
The  moment  an  infant  opens  its  eyes  to  the  light  in  this  world  it 
begins  to  make  comparisons ;  that  is,  to  discover  resemblances 
and  differences.  We  can  imagine  no  period  in  its  infantile  exist- 
ence, supposing  it  to  be  born  in  the  possession  of  the  corporal 
senses  of  humanity,  in  which  it  perceives  not  a  distinction  between 
light  and  darkness,  hot  and  cold,  or  in  which  it  cannot  recognize 
its  nurse  from  a  total  stranger.  No  one,  then,  can  perhaps  be 
found,  who  will  maintain  the  incapacity  of  any  child  that  can 
speak,  for  the  performance  of  everything  required  in  the  process 
just  described,  if  only  its  attention  can  be  gained. 

"With  respect  to  the  motives  to  be  applied,  in  order  to  make  the 
pupil  attentive,  these  must  be  left  to  the  discretion  and  judgment 
of  the  instructor.  One  means,  however,  derived  from  the  opera- 
tion of  the  system  itself,  will  be  found  very  efficacious,  and  it  is 
so  much  the  more  to  be  relied  on,  as  it  is  in  unison  with  the  pupil's 
own  feelings.  This  is  the  success  of  which  the  child  is  conscious 
as  the  result  of  his  own  efforts.  However  young  and  thoughtless 
he  may  be,  a  degree  of  pleasure  to  himself  will  always  attend  the 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION*.  349 

consideration  that  he  has  accomplished  his  object.  He  is  not 
allowed  to  say,  he  cannot  do  what  he  is  told  to  do,  for  he  soon 
finds  that  if  he  will  try,  he  can  overcome  what  at  first  lie  may  have 
considered  an  insuperable  difficulty.  And  if  he  once  succeeds, 
why  not  agaiu?  and  why  not  always'?  These  questions  may  not 
indeed  suggest  themselves  to  him  spontaneously ;  it  is  not  to  be 
expected,  nor  even  desired,  that  he  should  lose  the  feelings  of  a 
child,  and  prematurely  assume  those  of  a  more  advanced  stage  of 
Jife  ;  but  whenever  even  the  most  unpromising  pupil  is  made  con- 
scious that  he  has  done  well,  by  paying  attention,  and  that  he 
therefore  knows  something,  his  mind  is  then  in  a  fit  state  for 
receiving  such  injunctions  as  may  gradually,  by  their  constant 
repetition  at  seasonable  opportunities,  induce  those  mental  habits 
whic-h  will  subsequently  be  of  the  most  important  service  to  him 
in  the  acquirement  of  knowledge. 

If  the  foregoing  directions  have  been  understood,  a  tolerably 
correct  notion  will  be  obtained  of  Jacotot's  method  of  instruction, 
as  regards  the  art  of  Reading.  It  may  be  observed,  that  the 
object  of  the  process  described,  is  simply  to  make  the  pupil  ac- 
quainted with  the  forms  of  words,  syllables,  and  letters.  What 
may  be  called  declamatory  reading,  is  reserved  for  a  more  ad- 
vanced stage  of  his  progress,  and  the  general  rule  given  for  the 
attainment  of  it,  is,  Read  as  you  tcould  speak.  This  direction 
has  often  been  given  before  the  time  of  Jacotot,  but  it  is  rare  to 
find  instances  of  its  being  implicitly  and  constantly  obeyed  by 
pupils  at  school.  Unless  the  sentences  read  are  understood,  they 
cannot,  of  course,  be  felt,  and  to  expect  a  child  to  read  that 
which  he  understands  not,  and  feels  not,  with  the  same  degree  of 
emphasis  and  propriety  of  tone  as  are  dictated  to  him  by  Knture 
in  his  own  spontaneous  expression,  is  to  indulge  a  hope  which 
cannot,  by  any  possibility,  be  gratified.  But  the  Universal  In- 
struction, as  will  be  presently  seen,  ensures  the  thorough  compre- 
hension of  every  idea  presented  to  the  pupil's  notice,  and  he  is, 
therefore,  so  far  prepared  to  read  as  he  would  speak. 

After  the  child  has  received  two  lessons  in  reading,  he  is  made 
to  begin  to  write.  And  here  again,  the  process  employed  is  very 
different  from  that  in  common  use.  Instead  of  commencing  with 
elementary  lines,  curves,  and  letters,  in  what  is  culled  text-hand, 
a  complete  sentence,  written  by  the  master  or  engraved  in  *»»«#- 
hand,  is  put  before  his  eyes,  which  he  is  directed  to  copy.  For 
obvious  reasons,  this  sentence  is  generally  the  same  as  that  from 
which  he  received  his  first  notions  of  reading.  The  two  pursuits 


350  PllINCIPLES   AND  PRACTICE  OP 

are  thus  made  mutually  to  assist  each  other,  and  the  pupil  very 
soon  learns,  by  himself,  to  distinguish  between  the  printed  charac- 
ters aud  those  employed  in  writing.  He  writes,  as  well  as  he  cau, 
the  first  word  "  The,"  and  no  further  progress  must  be  made,  till, 
by  an  attentive  comparison  of  his  own  performance  with  the 
original  copy,  he  becomes  conscious  of  the  faults  and  defects  of 
the  former.  But  in  exciting  this  consciousness,  it  is  not  necessary 
for  the  instructor  to  make  the  slightest  remark,  the  pupil  himself  dis- 
covers all  the  faults,  and  suggests  the  proper  remedies.  The  teacher 
does  nothing  but  ask  such  questions  as  may  cause  the  pupil  to 
direct  his  attention  to  the  subject,  and  induce  him  to  see  that  the 
means  of  success  are  entirely  within  his  own  power.  Some 
teachers  may  perhaps  be  inclined  to  doubt  whether  a  very  young 
child  can  observe  and  particularize  by  itself  every  deviation  from 
the  standard  prototype  which  is  proposed  for  imitation.  The  best 
way  of  settling  such  doubts  is  to  make  the  trial.  This  will  prove 
that  every  child  can  point  out  its  own  errors  as  well  as  the  instruc- 
tor himself,  and  the  actual  advantages  gained  in  the  respective 
cases,  admit  of  no  comparison.  The  pupil  who  is  constantly  told 
of  his  errors,  listens,  for  the  most  part,  to  all  that  is  said  on  the 
subject,  either  with  vacant  indifference,  or  with  that  sort  of  feeling 
which  relies  rather  on  the  present  indulgence  of  idleness,  than  on 
the  future  rewards  of  attention.  But  a  feeling  of  conscious  shame 
is  induced  in  the  mind  of  the  child,  who  perceives  from  the  an- 
swers which  he  cannot  fail  to  give  to  the  questions  propounded, 
that  he  is  perfectly  aware  both  of  the  faults  of  his  own  perform- 
ance, and  of  the  proper  remedies  to  be  applied  in  subsequent 
attempts.  The  appeal  —  You  see  you  know  what  is  right,  be 
careful  then  to  practise  it,  —  is  often  of  considerable  service  in 
exciting  attention,  when  other  means  would  probably  fail. 

The  questions  referred  to  as  necessary  to  be  put  to  the  pupil 
are  of   a   similar   character   and   tendency  to  the   following :  — 
Pointing  to  the  first  letter  of  the  pupil's  attempt,  and  directing 
him  to  look  carefully  both  at   it  and   at  the  copy,  the   teacher 
says,  — 

Q.  Is  this    GJ  well  made  ? 

A.  No ;  it  is  too  high,  or  to  short,  or  too  long,  &c. 

Q.  Could  it  be  made  better  ? 

A.  I  think  so. 

Q.  "What  must  you  do  then  to  improve  it  ? 

A.  Make  it  longer,  or  shorter,  or  broader,  &c. 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION.  851 

Q.  How  could  you  have  made  it  bettor  at  first  ? 

A.  By  paying  more  attention. 

These  questions,  it  is  easily  seen,  may  be  indefinitely  varied 
and  extended,  according  to  circumstances,  but  the  principle  must 
never  be  lost  sight  of,  that  the  pupil  alicays  corrects  himself.  Each 
letter  passes  under  a  similar  review,  and  the  whole  word  is  th'-n 
written  over  again,  the  second  and  each  successive  attempt  being 
subjected  to  the  same  rigid  investigation  until  the  pupil  learns  to 
correct,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  every  fault,  as  previously 
particularized  by  himself.  He  then  goes  on  to  the  second  word, 
in  examining  which,  the  process  just  described  is  invariably  em- 
ployed, and  so  on  with  regard  to  the  rest  of  the  seutence,  recol- 
lecting, that  every  time  a  fresh  word  is  taken,  the  writing  must 
commence  with  the  first  word- written,  that  all  the  results  of  the 
attention  previously  bestowed  may  be  embraced  and  pre>erved 
each  time  of  transcription,  and  that  the  pupil  may  not  fall  again 
into  any  of  the  errors  of  which  he  has  already  been  made  conscion-. 
"NVhen  the  child  begins  to  transcribe  a  sentence  or  two  tolerably 
well,  he  is  required  to  write  from  memory,  and  afterwards  note 
his  faults  by  comparison  with  the  original  copy.  After  some 
considerable  practice  in  the  writing  of  small-hand,  he  is  carried 
forward  to  exercises  in  the  bolder  styles  of  writing,  while  at  the 
s:nne  time,  the  incessant  maintenance  of  the  principles  originally 
urged  upon  him,  is  on  no  account,  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  matter 
of  slight  importance.  He  can  never  perform  anything  so  well,  but 
that  ivith  more  pains  he  may  perform  it  better. 


LANGUAGES. 

As  soon  as  the  pupil  has  obtained,  by  the  process  already 
described,  a  tolerable  acquaintance  with  the  elementary  arN  of 
Heading  and  Writing,  his  future  progress  in  them  is  made  to 
connect  itself  with  the  study  of  his  own  language,  to  which  lie  is 
now,  in  course,  directed.  It  is  not,  however,  designed,  that  he 
shall  cease  to  give  them  the  same  attention  as  before,  but  that 
they  shall  now  be  applied  to  some  actual  service.  lie  shall  be 
taught  to  see  and  prove  for  himself  the  useful  purposes  to  which 
they  can  be  made  subservient.  An  object  will  thus  be  apparent 
to  his  view,  and  labor,  with  an  object,  is  much  more  cheerfully 
performed,  even  by  an  idler,  than  that  which  seems  to  be  exacted 


352  PRINCIPLES   AND   PRACTICE  OF 

arbitrarily,  and  the  end  and  aim  of  which  are  but  indistinctly 
discerned. 

M.  Jacotot's  method  of  teaching  languages,  considered  as  a 
whole,  is  so  different  from  all  previously  pursued,  that  it  is  easy 
to  account  for  the  repugnance  which  many  intelligent  instructors 
have  evinced,  to  put  the  efficacy  of  it  to  proof  by  actual  experi- 
ment. They  have  found  themselves  unable  to  comprehend  at  a 
glance,  the  connection  between  means  and  end,  and  have  at  once 
decided  that  the  alleged  results  are  incredible,  and 'the  method 
wholly  incompetent.  But  this  is  a  mere  assertion,  opposed  both 
by  undeniable  facts,  and  by  the  plausibility  of  the  scheme  itself, 
which,  indeed,  they  would  have  at  once  acknowledged,  if  it  had 
received,  as  it  ought  to  have  done,  their  serious  unprejudiced  con- 
sideration. It  is,  however,  hardly  to  be  expected  that  any  one, 
unless  the  positive  results  were  incessantly  under  his  eyes,  should 
heartily  adopt  the  method,  before  he  had  in  some  degree  satisfied 
himself  with  the  arguments  which  serve  to  establish  its  theoretical 
excellence.  Were  this  not  the  case,  one  single  page  would  be 
sufficient  to  give  the  teacher  all  the  necessary  directions,  since,  as 
before  said,  the  practical  part  of  the  system  is  embraced  in  the 

WOrds,  LEARN  SOMETHING  THOROUGHLY,  AND  REFER  EVERYTHING  KI.-I. 

TO  IT.  The  principle  comprehended  in  these  terms,  is  modified  or 
varied,  to  suit  different  circumstances,  but  it  still  remains  essen- 
tially the  same.  To  adapt  it  to  the  study  of  all  languages,  whether 
the  vernacular  or  others,  it  is  made  to  assume  the  following  form : 
Learn  one  book  in  the  language  (whatever  this  may  be)  thoroughly, 
refer  all  the  rest  to  it  by  your  own  reflection  and  verify  the  obserca- 
tions  of  others  by  what  you  know  yourself.  He  who  obeys  this 
direction,  acquires  languages  in  about  one-tenth  of  the  time  usually 
employed  to  arrive  at  the  same  result.  It  will  be  observed  that 
nothing  is  here  said  of  learning  grammar,  writing  exercises  upon 
it,  &c.  Grammar,  instead  of  being  introduced  to  the  pupil's  at- 
tention as  soon  as  he  can  read,  is  postponed  to  a  very  late  stage 
in  his  literary  education.  He  writes  themes,  moral  and  meta- 
physical essays,  criticisms,  &c.,  &c.,  and,  in  short,  goes  through 
an  entire  course  of  elementary  composition,  before  he  is  required 
to  investigate  the  principles  of  grammar.  This  must  necessarily 
surprise  those  who  are  accustomed  to  believe,  that  an  acquaintance 
with  the  rules  of  grammar  is  a  pre-requisite  to  correct  composition 
in  every  language.  This  assumption,  although  very  generally 
prevalent,  cannot  be  supported  by  any  arguments  whatever.  As 
far  as  the  vernacular  tongue  is  concerned,  it  is  opposed  by  innu- 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION.  353 

merable  facts,  which  will  occur  lo  the  mind  of  every  attentive 
observer.  Many  persons  write  with  perfect  correctness  without 
being  able  to  account  grammatically  for  a  single  sentence,  or  even 
a  word  in  their  composition.  Many  more  speak  grammatically,  al- 
though utterly  unacquainted  with  grammar.  But  how  could  this 
happen,  if  a  knowledge  of  that  science  were  indeed  so  essential  to 
accuracy  of  language,  as  it  is  assumed  to  be?  Again,  every  one 
concerned  in  tuition  is  aware,  that  a  child  may  be  able  to  repeat 
the  grammar  from  one  end  to  the  other,  and  yet  be  totally  inca- 
pable of  putting  three  correct  sentences  together.  It  is,  therefore, 
evident  that  the  science  of  grammar,  and  propriety  of  composition 
in  the  language,  are  not  quite  so  intimately  connected  as  some 
may  imagine.  No  one  will  indeed  deny,  that  a  perfect  acquaintance 
with  all  the  grammatical  rules  of  a  language  would  effectually  pre- 
vent the  commission  of  errors,  if  the  person  thus  gifted  should 
recollect,  every  time  he  spoke  or  wrote,  the  exact  rule  necessary 
to  be  observed  in  the  construction  of  his  sentences.  But  no  one 
who  speaks  or  writes  well  does  this.  He  who  is  accustomed  to 
tremble  at  the  thought  of  committing  a  grammatical  solecism,  or 
who  imagines  that  his  thoughts  can  be  at  all  strengthened  or 
adorned  by  a  scrupulous  anxiety  of  this  kind,  will  never  thoroughly 
succeed  in  composition.  His  style  must,  of  necessit}',  be  stiff  and 
constrained.  Did  Milton  or  Shakespeare  stay,  before  they  penned 
their  immortal  lines,  to  consider  if  the  expressions  they  employed 
were  precisely  grammatical  ?  No  ;  —  the  thought  was  entire,  and 
they  were  well  acquainted  with  the  conventional  signs  in  which  it 
was  to  be  conveyed,  and  they  wrote  what  will  last  forever ;  but 
they  did  not  effect  this  by  a  superior  acquaintance  with  the  techni- 
calities of  grammar  ;  —  many  a  school-boy  would,  probably,  have 
been  more  than  a  match  for  them  both  in  this  respect.  The 
immediate  inference  from  the  foregoing  considerations,  is,  that 
the  real  importance  of  grammatical  knowledge,  in  the  business  of 
education,  is  by  no  means  commensurate  with  that  factitious  esti- 
mation in  which  it  has  long  been  held.  The  pupil  is  taught  to 
consider  that  he  is  learning  his  own  language,  when  he  is,  in  fact, 
only  becoming  acquainted  with  the  general  observations  that  have 
been  made  upon  it.  Grammar  is  a  science  of  generalities,  entirely 
derived  from  the  actual  state,  the  facts,  indeed,  of  the  language. 
The  language  must  indisputably  have  preceded  all  the  grammatical 
rules  founded  upon  it.  Instead,  therefore,  of  learning  rules,  in 
order  to  apply  facts  to  them,  the  pupils  of  Jacotot  arc  directed  to 
learn  the  facts  themselves,  and  afterwards  to  verify  the  rules  or 


354  PRINCIPLES   AND   PRACTICE  OF 

observations  of  the  grammarians  by  their  own  knowledge.  They 
are,  indeed,  sent  (to  use  the  author's  expression)  to  the  masters  of 
the  grammarians,  that  is,  to  the  standard  classical  writers  of  the 
language.  Here  facts  are  to  be  found  in  abundance,  and  when 
the  pupil  is  perfectly  familiar  with  the  phraseology  of  his  model, 
he  is  never  at  a  loss  for  the  means  of  verification. 

Language  is  entirely  conventional,  and  we  learn  to  employ  it 
correctly  by  imitating  those  who  are  best  acquainted  with  its 
recognized  forms.  A  child  who  mixes  in  no  other  society  than 
that  of  well  educated  persons,  will  as  naturally  speak  with  accu- 
racy, as  another,  whose  companions  are  of  an  opposite  character, 
will  imitate  their  errors  and  improprieties.  And  hence  we  learn 
to  account  for  the  fact,  that  a  man  may  speak  and  write  well, 
without  knowing  grammar.  This  man  has  become  acquainted 
with  the  masters  of  the  grammarians,  and  he  therefore  speaks  and 
writes  grammar  as  the  Bourgeois  Gentilhomme  of  Moliere  did 
prose,  without  being  aware  of  it. 

These  preliminary  remarks  were  thought  necessary,  in  anticipa- 
tion of  objections  (perhaps  not  now  satisfied)  against  this 
particular  point  of  Jacotot's  system**  —  the  finishing  instead  of 
commencing,  with  the  science  of  grammar.  It  may  now  be  proper 
to  unfold  the  method  pursued  in  learning  the  vernacular  tongue, 
previously  intimating  to  the  reader,  that  the  exercises  soon  to  be 
explained  in  detail,  are  the  exact  counterpart  of  those  employed 
in  acquiring  a  thorough  knowledge  of  foreign  or  dead  languages. 
The  Universal  Instruction  has  but  one  route. 

The  pupil  is  required  to  commit  to  memory  the  first  six  books 
of  Telemachus,  as  an  introductory  exercise. f  These  he  must  know 

*  It  may  be  here  objected,  that  Milton,  Locke,  Uumarsais,  Dufief,  Hamilton,  &c.,  have  all, 
more  or  less,  developed  and  enforced  this  principle,  and  consequently  that  there  is  neither 
merit  nor  novelty  in  the  adoption  of  it  by  Jacotot.  To  this  it  may  be  replied,  that  Jacotot 
does  not  assume  the  novelty  of  any  one  of  the  principles  which  operate  in  his  system ;  he 
merely  contends,  that  he  lias  shown  the  conformity  of  them  to  the  system  of  Nature,  and 
brought  them  together,  so  as  to  form  a  united  whole.  With  respect  to  other  objections  on 
this  head,  one  answer  may  suffice,  —  that  with  respect  to  celerity  in  the  acquisition  of 
languages,  Jacotot's  method  far  outstrips  that  commonly  designated  the  Ilamiltonian. 

f  It  is  to  be  recollected,  that  the  writer  of  this  pamphlet  merely  employs  the  illustra- 
tions of  the  author  for  the  sake  of  convenience.  Telemachus  Is  the  work  by  which 
Jacotot's  experiments  were  made  in  the  tuition  of  French  and  Belglc  pupils.  The  choice 
of  the  most  eligible  book,  for  a  similar  course,  as  adapted  to  Instruction  in  England, 
might  require  much  deliberation.  We  have  not  perhaps  any  work  so  well  fitted,  in  all 
respects,  for  our  purpose,  as  Telemachus  is  for  theirs.  The  continental  pupils  of  Jacotot's 
system  who  learn  English,  are  directed  to  commit  to  memory  a  portion  of  Johnson's 
Rassclas,  making  this  their  model-book.  There  are,  perhaps,  some  objections  to  selecting 
Rassolas,  ns  a  standard  of  style;  though  most  parents,  it  is  believed,  would  be  well  sat- 
isfied, were  their  children  taught  to  write  English  as  well  as  Johnson, — an  attainment 
which  this  system  puts  completely  within  their  reach. 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION.      355 

perfectly,  so  as  to  be  able  to  repeat  them,  from  one  end  to  the 
other,  without  the  slightest  hesitation ;  and  whenever  the  teacher 
mentions  the  first  word  of  a  paragraph  or  sentence,  to  continue 
the  paragraph  or  sentence  without  the  omission  of  a  single  word. 
Many  persons  to  whom  this  has  been  mentioned,  have  been  at 
once  startled  at  what  they  considered  so  vast  a  requirement,  not 
recollecting,  at  the  same  time,  that  much  more,  and,  (as  will  be 
shown,)  to  infinitely  less  purpose,  is  exacted  from  the  pupil  by  the 
common  method.  When  the  six  books  of  Telemachus,  or  an 
equivalent  portion  of  any  eminent  work  in  the  language  which  the 
pupil  ma}'  be  studying,  is  once  thus  thoroughly  impressed  on  the 
memory,  his  labor  is  almost  all  over.  Evei-y  exercise  afterwards 
required  of  him  is  little  better  than  amusement ;  he  is  in  posses- 
sion of  all  the  necessary  materials,  and  his  mind  will  almost  spon- 
taneously employ  them.  In  his  book,  he  finds  the  elements  of 
Grammar,  Composition,  Criticism,  Mental  and  Moral  Philosophy, 
Logic,  the  Science  of  Human  Nature  in  general,  History,  Geo- 
graphy, Science,  &c.,  &c.,  of  everything,  indeed,  that  the  author 
deemed  it  necessary  for  himself  to  know,  in  order  to  produce  his 
work  as  it  actually  exists.  He  is  in  thorough  possession  of  the 
unembodied  essence  of  all  the  subjects  of  knowledge  just  men- 
tioned, though  he  is  not  made  to  stumble  and  start  at  their  tech- 
nical nomenclature.  Nothing  remains  but  to  evolve  the  various 
elements,  and  they  are  then  seen  to  assume  the  form  and  character 
ot  distinct  sciences.  But  this  is  not  all;  from  particular  facts, 
and  the  particular  reflections  connected  with  them,  the  pupil's 
mind  is  led  on  to  anabyze  circumstances  in  the  aggregate,  —  to 
generalize,  —  to  trace  the  method  pervading  the  whole,  —  to  see 
the  reason  of  that  method,  —  ana  thus  to  enter  into  the  very 
spirit  of  his  author,  and  to  understand  everything,  to  think  upon 
everything,  as  the  author  did  while  composing  his  work.  These 
are  the  advantages  which  it  is  not  said  inuy  be  obtained,  bat  which 
actually  have  been  obtained,  from  the  employment  of  the  method 
of  Jacotot.  Let  then  calm  consideration  decide  the  question, 
whether  it  is  better  to  commit  to  memory  a  portion  of  any  author 
equivalent  to  the  six  books  of  Telemaehus,  that  the  benefits  just 
mentioned  may  be  gained,  or  whether  the  same  results  as  easily 
follow  from  the  pursuit  of  the  methods  generally  employed.  But 
Jacotot's  system  effects  much  more  than  has  been  stated.  By 
means  of  this  process  of  committing  to  memory  the  first  six  books 
of  Telemachus,  and  performing  the  subsequent  exercises,  pupils 
of  fourteen  and  fifteen  years  of  age  have  arrived  at  a  proficiency 


356  PRINCIPLES   AND   PRACTICE   OF 

in  composition  which  would  be  perfectly  incredible,  did  not  the 
development  of  the  method  itself  furnish  data  quite  sufficient  to 
induce  credulity  upon  this  point.  These  pupils  have  learned  to 
equal  Fenelon  in  elegance  and  correctness  of  style,  —  to  approxi- 
mate very  nearly  to  Girard  in  detecting  the  difference  of  synony- 
mous words,  —  to  criticise  much  better  than  Madame  Dacier  often 
did,  —  to  make  general  observations  on  literature  not  inferior  to 
those  of  La  Harpe,  —  and,  in  short,  (for  to  mention  all,  would,  at 
this  stage  of  development,  provoke  positive  incredulity),  to  do 
more  than  ever  was  clone  by  any  children,  except  those  who  have 
been  by  common  consent  designated  geniuses.  It  will  hardly  be 
maintained  after  this,  that  the  labor  necessary  to  be  applied  in 
committing  thoroughly  to  memory  six  books  of  Telemachus,  is 
worth  a  single  thought,  when  such  advantages  are  consequent  on 
the  exercise.*  But  whatever  may  be  said,  the  fact  is,  that  the 
aggregate  of  icords  actually  committed  to  memory,  is  far  greater 
in  the  common  system  than  in  that  of  Jacotot.  Some,  however, 
who  feel  convinced  that  this  must  be  true,  and  that  to  learn  a 
hundred  pages,  in  order  to  acquire  a  language,  is  in  itself  no  very 
laborious  task,  yet  object,  that  to  commit  these  pages  to  memory, 
so  as  continuously  to  repeat  them  from  beginning  to  end,  without 
hesitation, '  would,  to  some  children,  be  quite  impossible.  M. 
Jacotot  at  once  denies  the  assertion,  and  maintains,  that  all  chil- 
dren have  memory,  and  an  equal  memory,  and  therefore,  that  all 
may  be  made  to  learn,  what  any  one  can  learn.  He  does  not 
indeed  maintain,  that  all  have  an  equal  will ;  nor  again,  does  he 
assert,  that  those  who  have  not  been  accustomed  to  committing  to 
memory,  will,  at  first,  succeed  quite  so  well  as  those  who  are 
adepts  in  the  exercise.  A  little  practice  will,  however,  give  a 
facility  which  might  have  appeared  unattainable  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  attempt.  This  objection,  indeed,  cannot  be  main- 
tained on  any  ground  of  argument.  We  say  a  child  has  a  bad 
memory,  when,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  it  is  inclination,  or  to  say 
the  least,  exercise  that  is  wanted,  —  not  the  faculty  of  remem- 
brance. This  very  child,  were  he  interrogated  on  any  topic 

*  The  benefits  of  this  exercise,  It  may  be  observed,  are  not  restricted  to  the  Immediate 

purposes  of  the  scholastic  education  in  view.     Every  person  tutored  by  the  system  of  Jacotot 

will  doubtless  be  able  to  commit  anything  (whatever  it  may  be)  to  memory  more  speedily, 

and  to  retain  it  more  durably  than  one  unaccustomed  to  the  process  of  this  system.    The 

pages  Indelibly  stamped  on  the  memory,  as  above  directed,  and  anatomized  (*o  to  ppea';)  by 

tie  subsequent  interrogatory  scrutiny,  will  form  in  the  mind  a  grand  mnemonical  gallery  of 

ictures  with  which  almost  everything  within  the  range  of  human  knowledge  will  form  some 

kind  of  association.     Schenkel's  once  very  celebrated  system  of  mnemonics  was  founded 

upon  a  principle  similar  to  thia. 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION.  357 

connected  with  his  spontaneous  amusements,  would  very  soon  con- 
vince the  questioner,  by  the  infinite  variety  of  facts  recollected, 
that  there  could  not,  by  possibilty,  be  any  radical  defect  in  his 
memory.  "Were  this  really  deficient,  how  could  any  kind  of  facts 
be  so  minutely  remembered,  and  so  clearly  particularized?  Give, 
however,  the  same  child  a  lesson  of  grammar  to  learn  by  heart. 
He  cannot  he  made  to  feel  the  same  interest  in  grammar  that  he 
does  in  sports  and  games,  and  besides,  he  does  not  understand  the 
subject.  What  then  is  the  consequence?  He  pays  little  or  no 
attention,  repeats  the  stipulated  task  very  miserably,  and  we  infer, 
that  he  has  a  very  bad  memory.  It  would  be  more  correct  to  say, 
he  has  paid  little  attention  to  his  lesson  ;  and  it  should  then  be  a 
point  of  conscientious  consideration,  whether  we  had  chosen  the 
proper  means  for  inducing  attention,  by  teasing  him  with  dry 
technical  terms,  which  he  could  not  understand,  and  by  not  pro- 
perl}'  training  his  memory  ;  that  is,  by  requiring  too  much  from  it 
at  this  particular  time,  without  regard  to  the  previous  state  of 
exercise  to  which  it  might  have  been  accustomed.  We  owe  all 
our  knowledge  to  memory,  for  without  this  faculty,  the  moment 
we  closed  our  eyes  on  external  nature,  the  mind  would  be  a  perfect 
blank.  We  possess  not  a  single  idea  for  which  we  are  not  ulti- 
mately indebted  to  memory.  Reasoning  is  essentially  based  OH 
facts,  and  unless  the  mind  possesses  the  necessary  facts,  there  can 
be  no  act  of  judgment,  no  connected  chain  of  argumentation.  It 
is  the  practice  of  founding  our  reasonings  on  the  reasonings  of 
others,  which  leads  to  mistaken  notions  and  erroneous  conclusions. 
This  view  of  the  subject,  intended  to  confirm  the  brief  axioms  of 
Jacotot,  is,  it  will  be  at  once  seen,  quite  incompatible  with  the 
observations  made  by  Montaigne,  Watts,  Kdgeworth,  &c.,  that 
an  accurate  judgment,  and  what  is  called  great  genius,  may  be 
totally  unconnected  with  a  good  memory.  No  great  genius  ever 
existed  without  memory,  nor  without  being  indebted  to  memory 
for  nearly  everything  which  stamped  its  productions  with  emin- 
ence. Miss  Edgcworth,  in  the  Practical  Education,  labors  to 
show  that  Shakspeare  had  a  very  indifferent  memory;  —  but  was 
not  this  quite  impossible  ?  If  he  depicts  natural  scenery,  what 
supplied  him  with  the  materials  which  he  put  into  new  combina- 
tions, but  memory?  If  he  makes  general  reflections,  whence  were 
these  obtained,  but  from  particular  facts?  and  how  are  facts  asso- 
ciated and  retained  for  reflection,  but  by  memory?  And  again, 
how  could  the  numberless  historical  facts,  upon  which  he  builds 
the  entire  structure  of  most  of  his  surprising  dramas,  have  been 


358  PRINCIPLES  AND  PRACTICE   OF 

in  his  mind  ready  for  use,  if  memory  had  not  preserved  them? 
Could  Shakspeare,  more  than  any  other  man,  have  portrayed  with 
his  pen  an  accurate  picture  of  a  thing  without  previously  having 
the  idea  of  it  mentally  before  him  ?  and  could  he  have  derived  this 
idea  from  any  other  source  than  facts  ?  If  he  himself  were  person- 
ally cognizant  of  these  facts,  memory  must  have  treasured  his 
perceptions  ;  if  he  received  them  from  a  secondary  source,  memory 
must  still  have  held  the  record.  But  because  Shakspeare  did 
not  sit  down  in  the  corner  of  a  room,  and  commit  to  memory  a 
set  form  of  words,  but  chose  rather  to  see  things,  and  because  he 
chose  to  make  his  own  reflections,  and  not  learn  by  rote  those 
made  by  others,  is  his  faculty  of  memory  to  be  depreciated?  The 
idea  is  too  absurd  to  be  entertained  for  an  instant.  It  would  be 
much  easier  to  maintain,  in  direct  opposition,  (though  such  a 
hypothesis  is  incompatible  with  Jacotot's  opinion,  already  cited,) 
that  as  we  do  not  precisely  know  what  genius  is,  Shakspeare's 
unrivalled  eminence  was  owing  to  a  superiority  over  other  men  in 
the  very  article  of  memory.  We  do  not  learn  facts  by  intuition, 
nor  do  we  arrive  at  general  notions,  except  from  facts.  Percep- 
tion supplies  us  with  these,  and  memory  retains  them  for  the  use 
of  the  mind.  But  perhaps  too  much  time  has  been  already 
devoted  to  this  subject,  in  consistence  with  the  limited  plan  of  the 
present  work.  It  has  been  thought  necessary  to  develop  it  more 
fully,  from  the  connection  it  manifestly  exhibits  to  one  of  Jaco- 
tot's most  important  principles,  that  the  pupil  is  directed  to  commit 
to  memory  facts,  and  to  maJce  his  own  reflections  upon  them.  He 
never  commits  to  memory  the  reflections  of  others,  but  he  is  taught  to 
examine  the  correctness  of  these  by  reference  to  the  facts  upon  tvhich 
they  are  of  necessity  founded.  From  all  the  preceding  remarks,  may 
be  easily  seen,  in  what  the  connection  maintained  between  tho 
memory  and  the  judgment,  by  the  system  of  the  Universal  Instruc- 
tion, really  consists.  The  memory  is  considered  as  the  faculty 
which  supplies  materials  for  the  operations  of  the  mind.  This 
duty  is  thought  to  be  inefficiently  performed,  if  the  stores  are 
suffered  to  be  lost,  (for  to  forget,  is  the  same  as  never  to  have  learned,) 
or  if  they  remain,  like  number,  unappropriated  to  any  useful  pur- 
pose. The  provisions  of  the  system  against  these  mischances,  are 
the  incessant  repetition  of  everything  learned,  and  the  constant 
vigilance  excited  in  the  mind,  that  every  idea  introduced  there 
for  the  first  time,  shall  not  only  find  an  associate  amongst  some 
of  the  ideas  already  firmly  established  there,  but  shall  itself  serve 
the  same  purpose  with  reference  to  any  others  subsequently  intro- 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION.  859 

cluced,  whenever  called  upon.  Thus,  all  the  materials  are  ren- 
dered serviceable,  and,  as  they  are  permanently  retained,  no  part 
of  the  labor  spent  in  the  acquisition  of  them  is  lost.  If  then  it  be 
allowed,  that  the  memory  is  a  most  invaluable  faculty,  and  that 
we  naturally  acquire  all  our  ideas,  whatever  they  may  be,  by  its 
instrumentality,  we  must  not  forget  to  follow  Nature's  plan,  with 
respect  to  those  things  which  we,  to  answer  particular  ends,  find 
it  necessary  to  deposit  in  its  custody.  No  ideas  can  long  be 
retained  in  the  memory,  which  are  not  deeply  impressed  by  repe- 
tition. Were  it  not  for  constant  repetition,  we  might  even  forget 
our  own  names,  as  we  frequently  do  those  of  strangers.  This 
exercise  has  been  hitherto  far  too  much  neglected  in  education, 
though  even  the  greatest  men,  —  and,  in  fact,  all  who  have 
attained  to  true  and  solid  learning, — have  invariably  availed  them- 
selves of  its  powerful  aid.  Porson,  in  early  life,  was  accustomed 
to  repeat  the  same  Greek  verses  over  and  over  again  a  great  many 
times,  and  he  attributed  to  this  practice  the  wonderful  facility  of 
reference  which  he  ever  afterwards  possessed.  Permanent  reten- 
tion can,  in  fact,  be  ensured  by  no  other  process.  Repetition, 
therefore,  is  considered  of  vital  importance  in  the  system  of  Jaco- 
tot ;  not  a  mere  repetition  of  the  lesson  of  the  preceding  day,  or 
even  a  week,  as  is  the  case  in  some  schools,  but  of  even-thing 
previously  committed  to  memory.  Nothing  is  omitted.  It  fol- 
lows from  this,  that  the  facts  learned  and  comprehended,  are  seen 
by  the  mind,  not  merely  as  detached,  insulated  points,  but  in  all 
the  varieties  of  analogy,  succession,  and  consequence. 

Learn  then  by  heart,  and  understand,  says  Jacotot,  the  first  six 
books  of  Telemaque,  or  an  equivalent  portion  of  any  eligible  work  in. 
the  language  to  be  acquired,  and  repeat  it  incessantly.  liefer  every- 
thing else  to  'this,  and  you  will  certainly  learn  the  language.  The 
following  is  the  method  proposed  by  Jacotot,  in  order  to  attain 
that  perfect  mental  retention  necessary  to  the  efficient  operation 
of  this  system. 

The  pupil  must  learn  every  day  a  sentence,  a  paragraph,  or  a 
page,  according  as  his  memon'  is  more  or  less  habituated  to  this 
exercise  ;  and  he  must  never  fail  to  repeat  all  that  he  has  previously 
learned,  from  the  first  word  of  the  book.  Thus,  if  he  learns  one 
sentence  at  first,  on  the  following  day  he  learns  the  next  sentence, 
but  repeats  the  two,  commencing  with  the  first  word  of  that  pre- 
viously learned.  The  same  method  is  pursued  to  the  end  of  the 
sixth  book.  As  however  this  repetition,  as  the  pupil  goes  on, 
necessarily  occupies  much  time,  it  is  sometimes  found  advisable 


360  PRINCIPLES   AND   PRACTICE   OF 

to  divide  the  portion  thus  accumulating :  but  still  the  general 
repetition  of  the  six  books  must  have  place  at  least  twice  a  week. 
The  oftener  the  whole  is  repeated,  the  more  prompt  and  durable 
are  the  results. 

It  is  confessed  that  the  preceding  exercise  is  tedious  and  weari- 
some, and  great  care  is  required  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  to 
prevent  it  from  becoming  repulsive  and  disgusting  to  the  pupil.* 
Too  much  must  not  at  first  be  exacted.  If  the  child  cannot  learn 
a  paragraph  in  a  day,  let  him  learn  two  sentences,  one  sentence, 
or  even  a  single  word.  At  all  events  he  must  learn  something 
thoroughly ;  on  the  next  day  he  will  learn  something  more,  still 
repeating  what  he  has  previously  learned  ;  and  after  a  fortnight's 
practice  there  will  be  little  reason  to  tax  him  with  want  of  memory. 
When  the  pupil  knows  the  first  six  books  of  Telemachus  thoroughly, 
it  is  not  necessary  to  commit  the  remaining  eighteen  to  memory  ; 
but  he  must  read  every  day  some  pages  of  them,  with  a  degree  of 
attention  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  relate  what  the}-  contain. 
This  is  a  very  important  exercise,  and  is  on  no  account  to  be 
neglected.  The  recital  of  the  pupil  serves  as  an  evidence  of  the 
attention  that  he  has  paid  during  his  perusal,  and  what  is  more, 
accustoms  him  to  the  practice  of  speaking  without  hesitation  upon 
a  fact  present  to  his  memory,  and  of  employing  expressions  which 
he  has  seen  used  in  the  book,  in  accordance  with  the  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances of  the  fact  or  facts  narrated.  By  this  means  he 
becomes  accustomed  to  the  use  of  words  as  the  signs  of  ideas 
actually  in  his  mind ;  and  hence  result  propriety  and  facility  of 
•  diction.  He  speaks  of  what  he  understands,  and  of  course  speaks 
clearly,  and,  in  a  certain  degree,  well.  This  second  exercise, 
however,  on  no  account  excludes  the  general  or  partial  repetition 
of  the  first  six  books,  which  the  pupil  must  go  through  at  least 
once  a  week,  even  when  they  are  fixed  immovably  in  his  memory. 

The  pupil's  greatest  difficulties  are  now  all  conquered.  He  knows 
all  he  ought  to  know :  as  lie  knows  one  book  he  knows  all  books.-f 

*  It  Is  submitted,  with  much  deference,  that  were  some  fow  of  the  admirable  exercises 
which  succeed  this  mnemonical  practice,  to  precede  it,  much  of  the  difliculty,  confessedly 
great,  of  committing  thoroughly  to  memory  a  macs  of  words  hut  imperfectly  comprehended 
when  first  learned,  would  be  obviated.  If  the  pupil  were  made  to  read  carefully  over  each 
passage  to  be  committed  to  memory,  and  rigidly  interrogated  as  to  the  meaning,  until  all  the 
ideas  which  it  embraced  were  comprehended  by  his  mind,  the  task  of  subsequently  learning 
it  by  heart,  would  be  comparatively  slight;  nor  does  it  appear,  that  by  so  doing  any  one  prin- 
ciple of  the  system  would  be  sacrificed;  since  the  same  interrogations  might  be  afterwards 
repeated.  Still,  however,  this  is  merely  a  suggestion;  of  its  propriety,  let  others  judge. 

f  The  strict  import  of  this  phraseology  will  be  more  apparent  hereafter;  for  the  present  it 
la  eufflcient  to  enunciate  it  as  the  dictum  of  Jacotot. 


JACOTOT  S   SYSTEM   OF   EDUCATION. 

All  that  now  remains  for  him,  is  to  distinguish,  to  compare,  and  to 
refer.  The  materials  have  been  stored,  and  the  mental  farulti.-, 
are  now  called  upon  to  do  their  part.  It  is  singular,  that  what  is 
generally  accounted  the  most  difficult  point  of  attainment  l>y  the 
common  method  of  tuition,  the  getting  the  pupil  to  think,  becomes, 
in  the  system  of  Jacotot,  the  easiest.  The  pupil  cannot  help  think- 
ing ;  that  is  he  cannot  help  noticing  resemblances,  and  distinguish- 
ing differences,  and  consequently  exercising  his  judgment,  when 
led  on  according  to  the  process  now  to  be  illustrated.  Previously, 
however,  what  was  formerly  intimated  may  be  again  remarked, 
that  the  master,  who  pursues  the  method  of  the  Universal  Instruc- 
tion, tells  the  pupil  nothing.  He  explains  nothing,  insists  upon  nothing, 
affirms  nothing.  The  pupil  is  taught  to  see  everything  himself,  and  to 
make  his  own  reflections,  not  to  receive  those  made  by  others.  He  is 
called  upon  to  answer  the  repeated  interrogations  put  to  him  by  his 
teacher ;  which,  however,  tell  him  nothing ;  they  only  lead  l>im  to 
view  the  subject  in  all  its  points  of  observation.  This  view  must 
be  the  same  that  his  mind,  were  it  actuated  by  the  free  impulses 
of  his  will,  that  is,  were  he  really  desirous  of  thoroughly  compre- 
hending the  matter,  would  of  necessity  take.  Hence  is  the  8}'stem 
of  Jacotot  undeniably  based  on  the  system  of  Nature. 

In  pursuance  of  this  method,  the  pupil  is  directed  to  read  the 
two  first  paragraphs  of  the  first  book.  He  is  told  to  pay  the  ut- 
most possible  attention  to  them  :  and  the  teacher  then  puts  <jn<  ttitn  * 
to  him  on  every  word  and  jrftrase,  on  each  paragraph,  and  on  the 
two  together :  and,  in  short,  the  passage  is  not  dismissed  from 
view,  until  it  is  evident  that  nothing  has  escaped  the  pupil's 
attention. 

The  manner  in  which  this  is  done  will  now  be  made  to  appear ; 
and  it  may  be  recollected,  that  the  principle  on  which  its  cfliearv 
depends,  is  that  the  author  would  have  not  used  every  word,  un- 
less every  word  had  been  necessary  to  convey  his  ideas  to  the 
reader.  If  then  it  was  necessary  for  the  author  to  employ  all  the 
words  and  expressions  brought  before  us,  it  must  be  equally  neces- 
sary for  us  to  understand  them.  That  the  full  fon  <•  of  this  exer- 
cise may  be  apparent,  a  translation  of  the  first  paragraph,  (alteivd 
from  Hawkesworth's,  wliich  is  too  diffuse,)  is  subjoined. 

"The  grief  of  Calypso  for" the  departure  of  T'lv— •-  v.nild  admit  of  no 
comfort.  In  the  height  of  her  sorrow,  she  even  roj;n>tt<»l  Ix-r  immortality. 
Her  grotto  echoed  no  more  with  tli(>  music  of  her  voice,  and  hor  attendant 
nymphs  dared  not  to  address  her.  She  often  walked  alone  upon  the  flowory 
turf,  with  which  an  eternal  spring  had  docked  the  borders  of  her  Isle ;  but 


362  PRINCIPLES   AND   PRACTICE  OF 

the  beauties  which  bloomed  around  her,  far  from  soothing  her  grief,  only 
revived  the  sad  remembrance  of  Ulysses,  who  had  been  so  frequently  the 
companion  of  her  walks.  Sometimes  she  stood  motionless  upon  the  beach, 
which  she  bedewed  with  her  tears,  turning  herself  incessantly  to  that  di- 
rection in  which  the  vessel  of  Ulysses,  cleaving  the  waves,  had  disappeared 
from  her  view." 

The  following  questions  and  answers  are,  of  course,  given  merely 
as  illustrations.  If  the  method  be  thoroughly  comprehended  by 
the  teacher,  he  will,  with  the  greatest  ease,  adapt  himself  to  the 
circumstances  of  the  case.  Taking  then  the  first  sentence  — 

The  grief  of  Calypso  for  the  departure  of  Ulysses  would  admit  of 
no  comfort — 

The  teacher  asks  —  "Who  was  gone? 

The  pupil  answers  —  Ulysses. 

Q.  Who  was  grieved  ? 

A.  Calypso. 

Q.  Who  were  Calypso  and  Ulysses? 

A.  I  do  not  know.* 

Q.  What  was  the  cause  of  Calypso's  grief? 

A.  The  departure  of  Ulysses. 

Q.  Did  Calypso  love  Ulysses? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.  How  do  you  know  that? 

A.  Because  her  grief  for  his  departure  would  admit  of  no 
comfort? 

Q.  Was  she  slightly  grieved,  or  very  much? 

A.  Very  much. 

Q.  What  do  you  call  that  grief  which  admits  of  no  comfort  ? 

A.  Inconsolable. 

The  teacher  will  use  his  own  discretion  as  to  asking  such  ques- 
tions as  the  last,  which  require  in  the  answers  the  use  of  words 
and  phrases  not  to  be  found  in  the  original  sentence.  It  is  gen- 
erally thought  advisable  to  confine  the  attention  solely  to  questions 
which  will  introduce  the  very  words  of  the  sentence  under  notice. 
If,  however,  such  interrogations  as  the  last  be  made,  the  pupil 
will  not  find  the  slightest  difficulty  in  giving  appropriate  answers. 
When  once  he  understands  the  idea,  he  will  surprise  his  teacher 
by  the  many  modes  in  which  he  shows  himself  capable  of  giving  it 
expression.  He  will  be  found  to  have  a  distinct  perception  of  the 

*  Tho  pupil  is  supposed  to  know  nothing  of  the  characters,  but  what  he  can  obtain  from 
an  attentive  examination  of  every  word  which  relates  to  them  la  his  book. 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OP  EDUCATION.  363 

very  lights  and  shades  of  the  image  depicted  on  his  mind.  The 
teacher  may  ascertain  this  to  his  own  perfect  satisfaction,  without 
telling  or  explaining  to  his  pupil  a  single  word.  The  mind  is  to  l>e 
directed,  not  taught.  It  is  to  be  placed  so  that  it  may  sec  the  sub- 
ject in  every  possible  point  of  view,  and  the  interrogation  must  be 
continued,  until  the  entire  scene,  the  actors,  the  action  performed, 
the  cause  and  object  of  the  action,  the  modifying  circumstances, 
&c.,  &c.,  are  all  distinctly  in  view.*  Not  a  word  must  be  neg- 
lected. This  comprehends  the  learning  thoroughly;  and  the  prac- 
tice of  referring  everything  to  the  first  thing  learned,  can,  as  will  be 
seen  directly,  even  at  this  initiatory  stage,  be  brought  into  ques- 
tion. The  next  sentence  is  read  :  — 

In  the  height  of  her  sorrow,  she  even  regretted  her  immortality. 

Q.  To  whose  sorrow  is  reference  here  made  ? 

A.  To  that  of  Calypso. 

Q.  Who  was  immortal? 

A.  Calypso. 

Q.  Why  did  she  regret  her  immortality  ? 

A.  Because  Ulysses  was  gone,  and  in  her  sorrow  she  would 
have  wished  to  die. 

Q.  Why  wish  to  die? 

A.  That  she  might  lose  her  sorrow. 

Q.  Why  could  she  not  die  ? 

A.  Because  she  was  immortal. 

Q.  What  is  it  then  to  be  immortal  ? 

A.  Not  to  be  able  to  die. 

Q.  What  do  we  know  of  Calypso  from  this  sentence? 

A.  That  she  was  sorrowful  and  immortal. 

Q.  Did  we  know  these  circumstances  from  the  first  sentence? 

A.  No ;  only  one  of  them,  that  she  was  sorrowful. 

Q.  What  more  then  do  we  now  see  ? 

A.  That  she  was  immortal. 

*  The  particular  attention  of  the  reader  la  requested  to  thin  part  of  the  system,  for  It  U  to 
the  an.-ilvMs  (by  meiinH  of  the  interrogatory  process  above  explained)  of  every  complex  Idea 
presented  to  the  pupil's  notice,  into  Its  compom-nt  simple  Idea*,  that  the  wonderful  result* 
of  Jacntot'8  nii-thod  are  ultimately  owing.  An  Illustration  of  the  efficacy  of  thU  plan  in 
afforded  by  the  instance  of  Abbe  Longuerue,  who  lived  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  a  man 
(to  use  D'Alemburt's  expression)  of"  prodlgioxis  memory  and  terrible  erudition."  He  wrolo 
a  folio  history  of  France  entirely  from  memory,  without  referring  to  a  dingle  book.  When 
once  asked  by  Marquis  d'Argenson-to  What  he  attributed  his  surprising  power*  of  retention, 
he  answered,  "  Sir,  the  elements  of  every  science  —  the  first  principle*  of  every  language  — 
the  a,  b,  c,  as  I  may  say,  of  every  kind  of  knowledge,—  must  be  learned  whilst  we  are  very 
young.  This  is  not  difficult  in  youth,  especially  as  It  is  not  necessary  to  penetrate  far,  — 
simple  notion*  are  tufficient;  icken  t/tete  ure  acquired,  everything  we  read  <i/ltncardijl*d* 
it*  proper  place. 


364  PRINCIPLES   AND  PKACTICE   OF 

Q.  Was  Ulysses  immortal  ? 

A.  I  do  not  know. 

Some  may  consider  such  questions  as  these  ridiculous,  and  find 
abundant  matter  for  sport  in  the  idea  that  this  kind  of  exercise 
should  ever  teach  a  child  to  write  his  own  language,  as  well  as  the 
author  whose  work  is  put  into  his  hands.  Some  again  will  con- 
tend, that  there  is  not  the  least  novelty  in  it,  and  that  the  practice 
of  interrogation  is  pursued  by  every  teacher  who  wishes  to  ascer- 
tain the  knowledge  of  his  pupil.  To  the  former  party  of  objectors, 
Jacotot  simply  says,  Try,  and  you  will  be  sure  to  succeed  ;  an  experience 
often  years  warrants  my  prediction  ;  and  to  the  other  party  he  replies, 
I  acknowledge  you  ask  questions,  but  your  questions  are  confined 
to  the  technicalities  of  grammar  ;  and  I  propose  to  reverse  the  order 
that  you  follow,  and  to  finish  by  grammar.  But  he  might  have 
said  more  than  this.  No  plan  of  interrogation  was  ever  so  emi- 
nently successful  as  that  now  proposed,  for  it  puts  tie  pupil  in  full 
possession  of  every  idea  that  is  brought  before  him,  and  as  he  finds 
himself  able  to  answer  every  question,  he  gains  confidence  as  he  ad- 
vances and  perceives  every  difficulty  vanish  before  him.  Nine-tenths 
of  the  actual  waste  of  time  in  the  common  method,  arises  from 
the  pupil's  obtaining  an  indistinct  perception  of  many  things, 
which  lie  in  the  mind  in  a  disjointed  and  disorderly  state,  because 
the  mutual  bond  of  connection  is  hidden  in  the  obscurity  which 
veils  them.  If  he  knew  a  little  more  about  them,  all  would  be 
clear  ;  as  it  is,  almost  everything  is  misty.  The  system  of  Jacotot 
allows  of  no  such  semi-perceptions.  The  j'oungest  child  may,  with 
the  slightest  attention,  answer  these  questions,  and  consequently 
comprehend  the  successive  ideas  which  they  are  intended  to  lay 
open  before  him.  We  proceed  to  the  next  sentence  :  — 

Her  grotto  echoed  no  more  with  the  music  of  her  voice,  and  her 
attendant  nymphs  dared  not  to  address  her. 

Q.  To  whom  are  we  referring  here  ? 

A.  Calypso. 

Q.  Was  she  accustomed  to  sing? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.  Was  she  always  singing? 

A.  No  ;  she  did  not  sing  now. 

Q.  How  do  you  know  that  ? 

A.  Because  her  grotto  echoed  no  more  with  her  voice. 

Q.  Where  did  she  generally  sing  ? 

A.  In  her  grotto. 

Q.  Why  did  her  grotto  echo  no  more  with  her  singing? 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OP  EDUCATION.  365 

A.  Because  she  was  sorrowful. 

Q.  Who  were  Calypso's  attendants  ? 

A.  Nymphs. 

Q.  Why  did  they  not  dare  to  address  her  ? 

A.  Because  she  was  sorrowful. 

Q.  What  more  of  Calypso  do  we  know  than  we  did  before? 

A.  That  she  had  a  grotto,  that  she  sung,  and  that  she  was 
attended  by  nymphs. 

She  often  walked  alone  upon  the  flowery  turf,  with  which  an  eternal 
spring  had  decked  the  borders  of  her  isle;  but  the  beauties  which 
bloomed  around  her,  far  from  soothing  her  grief,  only  revived  the 
sad  remembrance  of  Ulysses,  who  had  been  so  frequently  the  com- 
panion of  her  walks. 

Q.  Where  did  Calypso  walk  ? 

A.  Upon  the  flowery  turf. 

Q.  Where  did  she  live? 

A.   In  an  island. 

Q.  Did  we  know  that  before? 

A.  No. 

Q.  Was  it  cold  in  the  island  of  Calypso? 

A.  No  :  there  was  an  eternal  spring. 

Q.  In  whose  company  did  she  walk? 

A.  She  walked  alone. 

Q.  With  whom  had  she  been  accustomed  to  walk? 

A.  With  Ulysses. 

Q.  Why  did  not  she  walk  wilh  him  now? 

A.  Because  he  was  gone. 

Q.  How  do  you  know  that? 

.   A.  Because  in  the  first  sentence  the  grief  of  Calypso  for  the 
departure  of  Ulysses  is  mentioned  :  this  shows  he  was  gone. 

Q.  Why  was  the  remembrance  of  Ulysses  sad  ? 

A.  Because  Calypso  loved  him,  and  he  was  gone  away  from  her. 

Q.  Why  did  Calypso  now  walk  alone  ? 

A.  Because  she  was  sorrowful. 

Sometimes  she  stood  motionless  upon  the  bench,  which  she  bedewed 
wit?i  her  tears,  turning  herself  incessantly  to  that  direction  in  which 
the  vessel  of  Ulysses,  cleaving  the  waves,  had  disappeared  from  her 
vieiv. 

Q.  In  what  part  of  her  isle  did  Calypso  dwell? 

A.  Near  the  sea-shore. 

Q.  How  do  you  know  that? 

A.  Because  she  often  walked  on  the  turf  which  was  on  the 


366  PRINCIPLES   AND   PRACTICE   OF 

border  of  her  isle,  and  because  her  grotto  must  have  been  near  at 
hand,  or  it  would  not  have  been  mentioned. 

Q.  Do  we  know,  from  the  preceding  sentences,  in  what  manner 
Ulysses  had  departed? 
•  A.  Xo. 

Q.  Do  we  now  know? 

A.  Yes  ;  in  a  vessel. 

Q.  Was  the  vessel  of  Ulysses  still  in  view  ? 

A.  No  ;  it  had  disappeared. 

Q.  Why  "  cleaving  the  waves?  " 

A.  Because  the  vessel  was  in  motion. 

Q.  How  do  you  know  that  ? 

A.  Because,  if  it  had  been  still,  it  would  not  have  been  said 
to  cleave  the  waves. 

Q.  Can  you  give  any  other  reason? 

A.  Yes.     If  it  had  been  still,  it  would  have  been  yet  in  view. 

The  foregoing  illustrations  may  suffice  to  show  what  is  meant 
by  asking  questions  on  every  word,  phrase,  &c.  After  each  sentence 
of  the  first  two  paragraphs  has  been  thus  passed  through,  the 
teacher  may  propose  questions  on  each  paragraph,  then  on  the 
two  together.  This  may  be  illustrated  with  reference  to  the  first ; 
its  further  application  will  be  obvious. 

Q.  What  persons  have  been  mentioned  by  name  in  this  para- 
graph ? 

A.  Two :  Calypso  and  Ulysses. 

Q.  What  do  you  know  of  Calypso? 

A.  Calypso  was  a  female,  an  immortal,  attended  by  nymphs  and 
dwelling  in  an  island.  She  lived  near  the  sea-shore. 

Q.  What  is  she  said  to  have  done  in  this  passage. 

A.  To  have  walked  alone  ;  to  have  repulsed  her  nymphs  ;  stood 
still  weeping  by  the  sea-shore,  &c. 

Q.  Why  did  she  act  thus  ? 

A.  Because  she  was  sorrowful. 

Q.  What  do  we  know  of  Ulysses? 

A.  Ulysses  was  a  man  who  had  accompanied  Calypso  in  her 
walks,  whom  she  loved  very  much,  and  who  was  now  gone  away 
in  a  ship. 

When  the  attention  of  the  pupil  begins  to  waver  at  all,  it  is 
proper  to  ask  questions,  which,  unless  he  were  strictly  on  his 
guard,  would  lead  him  into  an  absurdity.  Thus,  for  instance, 
Ulysses  went  away  :  — 

Q.  Did  Ulysses  go  away  in  a  coach? 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION.  367 

A.  No  ;  in  a  ship. 

Q.  Did  he  go  along  the  high  road  ? 

A.  No  ;  he  went  upon  the  sea,  and  there  are  no  roads  on  the  sea. 

Q.  Is  it  expressly  said  that  he  went  on  the  sea? 

A.  No :  but  he  could  not  have  travelled  in  a  ship  except  on  the 
sea;  and,  besides,  this  expression  "  cleaving  the  waves,"  show* 
that  the  sea  must  be  meant. 

The  pupil  in  this  way  becomes  well  acquainted  with  each  word, 
phrase,  paragraph,  several  paragraphs  united,  and,  in  short,  with 
an  entire  book.  As  the  exercise  is  continued,  and  the  pupil  accus- 
tomed to  answer,  his  progress  becomes  more  and  more  interesting. 
Every  new  character,  every  new  fact  or  group  of  facts,  must  be 
compared  with  those  that  have  preceded.  The  unremitted  vigil- 
ance of  the  teacher  must  stimulate  the  pupil  to  instruct  himself, 
by  reflecting  on  the  facts  of  his  book,  by  associating  and  classify- 
ing them,  and  by  putting  them  into  new  combinations.  Especial 
care  must  however  be  taken  (as  has  been  already  hinted)  that  no 
questions  be  asked,  the  answers  to  which  are  not  to  be  obtained  from 
the  book  that  the  pupil  knows.  It  matters  not  in  what  part  they  may 
be,  for  though  the  elements  of  the  solution  be  scattered,  the  memory 
will  reunite  them.  The  understanding  always  sees  well  what  it  really 
sees,  and  we  reason  amiss  only  when  we  speak  of  what  tee  do  not  see. 

A  very  interesting  exercise  is  now  proposed  to  the  pupil,  — that 
of  defining  words  by  the  comparison  of  passages  solely  derived 
from  his  model-book.  Thus,  suppose  for  instance,  he  were  asked  — 

What  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  "  Spring?"  He  answers,  — I 
observe  the  word  Spring  in  the  following  passages :  —  Flowery 
turf  with  which  an  eternal  Spring  had  decked,  &c.  (l>ook  i.)  —  They 
brought  all  the  fruits  which  Spring  promise*  and  Autumn,  ctr.  (b.  i.) 
—  He  celebrated  the  flowers  which  crorcn  the  Spring,  the  fragrance 
which  she  diffuses  and  the  verdure  that  rises  under  her  feet  (b.  i.), 
&c.,  &c. 

Well,  says  the  teacher,  what  reflection  do  these  passages  excite 
in  your  mind  ? 

A.  I  see  that  Spring  is  that  season  of  the  year  in  which  fragrant 
flowers  begin  to  bloom,  buds  to  open  forth,  birds  to  slug,  &c.,  &c. 

As  the  pupil  advances,  he  is  exercised  in  generalizing,  that 
is,  speaking  of  a  particular  fact  in  a  manner  applicable  to  all  facts 
of  the  same  nature.  He  is  not  taught  to  generalize ;  the  faculty  is 
common  to  all  men.  Let  him  be  made  to  direct  his  undistracted  atten- 
tion to  the  subject  before  him,  and  he  will  reason  upon  it  as  well  as 
his  instructor.  In  order  then  to  bring  this  faculty  into  exercise, 


368  PRINCIPLES  AND   PRACTICE   OF 

—  as  soon  as  a  great  number  of  questions  (similar  to  those  given 
for  the  sake  of  illustration),  have  been  proposed  on  the  first 
paragraph,  the  pupil  is  asked,  what  do  you  perceive  in  the  whole 
of  this  paragraph?  He  will  answer,  probably,  grief,  sorrow,  or 
something  of  the  kind.  Suppose  he  answers  grief.  He  is  immedi- 
ately asked,  What  then  is  grief?  and  he  is  at  once  obliged  to 
generalize. 

The  answer  to  the  question,  What  is  grief?  founded  upon  the 
facts  of  the  paragraph  under  review,  will  of  necessity  assume  a 
form  similar  to  the  following,  which  is,  indeed,  the  translated  reply 
of  a  child  who  had  just  commenced  the  study  of  his  own  language. 

"  Grief  is  a  passion  of  which  we  become  sensible  after  the  loss 
of  any  one  dear  to  us.  The  person  who  experiences  grief  seeks 
solitude,  ceases  to  take  delight  in  the  most  agreeable  places,  and 
repulses  the  attentions  of  those  who  would  willingly  administer 
solace.  " 

As  soon  as  this,  or  a  similar  composition,  is  produced  by  the 
pupil,  he  is  called  upon  to  justify  every  sentence  employed,  by 
reference  to  the  facts  from  which  his  general  notion  is  derived. 
Thus  the  teacher  asks  — 

Why  do  you  say  Grief  is  a  passion  of  which  we  become  sensible 
after  the  loss  of  any  one  dear  to  us?  The  pupil  replies,  Because, 
after  the  departure  of  Ulysses,  the  grief  of  Calypso  would  admit 
of  no  comfort. 

Q.  Why  do  you  say,  The  person  tvho  experiences  grief  seeks 
solitude  ? 

A.  She  often  walked  alone  on  the  flowery  turf,  &c. 

Q.  Why  have  you  said,  Ceases  to  take  delight  in  the  most  agree- 
able places  ? 

A.  Calypso  took  no  pleasure  in  her  beautiful  isle ;  she  noticed 
not  the  flowery  turf ;  she  thought  of  nothing  but  Ulysses. 

Q.  Why  say,  Repulses  the  attentions,  &c.  ? 

A.  Her  attendant  nymphs  dared  not  to  address  her. 

The  composition  in  question,  it  should  be^  remarked,  is  generally 
submitted  to  three  distinct  readings.  After  the  first,  it  is  examined 
as  a  whole  ;  after  the  second,  the  pupil  gives  an  account  of  the 
facts  upon  which  he  has  written  ;  and,  after  the  third,  particular 
attention  is  paid  to  individual  words,  and  to  improprieties  of  dic- 
tion, if  they  occur.  During  the  first  reading,  the  pupil  is  made 
to  pay  great  attention  to  the  manner  in  which  he  reads  ;  he  must 
pronounce  very  distinctly  all  the  syllables  of  each  word,  and  intro- 
duce the  proper  inflections  of  voice.  At  the  second  reading,  with- 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION.  369 

out  waiting  for  questions,  he  should  explain  his  composition  in 
the  following  manner:  "  I  have  said  grief  is  a  passion  of  which 
we  become  sensible  after  the  loss  of  any  one  dear  to  us :  because 
I  have  seen,  that  after  the  departure  of  Ulysses  the  grief  of 
Calypso  would  admit  of  no  comfort,  &c.,  &c.  After  the  third 
reading,  the  pupil  may  be  required  to  point  out  in  Telemachus 
every  word  and  phrase  that  he  has  employed;  for  it  is  distinctly 
understood,  that  he  must  never  wander  from  his  guide.  Every 
expression  not  authorized  by  his  model,  even  though  perfectly 
correct,  is  inadmissible.  This  restriction  ensures  propriety  of 
language,  for  he  is  of  necessity  obliged  to  seek  his  phraseology 
from  passages  which  he  well  understands,  and  the  ideas  arising 
from  which  are,  of  consequence,  distinctly  associated  in  his  mind, 
with  their  appropriate  verbal  signs.  As  long  as  he  remains  in 
pupilage  he  must  follow  the  model-book  as  his  guide  in  every 
respect.  Afterwards,  when  he  has  acquired  sufficient  experience 
to  pursue  his  way  alone,  nothing  will  prevent  him  from  employing 
or  imitating  the  expressions  of  other  eminent  authors.  He  will, 
indeed,  do  this  without  previous  reflection,  but  never  without 
being  able  to  justify  his  language  by  reference  to  good  authority. 

Another  very  important  exercise  is  made  to  depend  upon  what 
Jacotot  calls  the  oratorical  artifice  of  rejfetition.  The  meaning  of 
this  term  will  better  appear  from  the  following  example  than  from 
any  brief  explanation  which  could  be  given. 

Q.  Of  what  does  the  first  paragraph  of  Telemachus  consist? 
(see  p.  361.) 

A.  Of  the  fact  that  Calypso's  grief  for  the  departure  of  Ulysses 
was  inconsolable  :  it  therefore  contains  three  things  ;  Calypso  (1), 
her  inconsolable  grief  (2),  and  the  departure  of  Ulysses  (3). 

Q.  How  do  you  prove  this  ? 

A.  In  the  height  of  her  sorrow,  — and  —  she  even  regretted,  etc., 
are  only  repetitions  of  —  her  grief  was  inconsolable.  Her  immor- 
tality, gives  the  idea  of  Calypso.  Her  attendant  nymphs  —  this 
makes  me  think  of  Calypso  —  dared  not  to  address  her,  reminds 
me  of  her  grief.  Her  grotto  (1)  echoed  no  more,  &c.  (2).  She 
often  walked  alone  (2)  upon  the  flowery  turf ,  <tc.  (1).  But  these 
beautiful  places  (1),  far  from  soothing,  &c.  (2),  only  revived  the 
sad  remembrance,  &c.  (2,  3).  She  incessantly  turned,  rfv.  (1,  2,  3), 
to  the  direction  in  which,  &c.  (3).  * 

Now  that  the  pupil  can  answer  every  question  propounded  to 

*  The  purport  of  this  exercise  is  too  obvious  to  uccd  explanation. 


370  PRINCIPLES   AND   PRACTICE   OP 

him,  can  generalize,  and  justify  everything  that  he  has  said  or 
written,  it  only  becomes  necessary  to  vary  his  exercises,  and  thus 
to  lead  him  gradually  and  easily  to  write  whenever  and  upon  what- 
ever he  pleases ;  and  finally,  to  speak  extemporaneously  upon  a 
given  subject.  The  entire  course,  then,  comprehends  the  following 
exercises : 

1.  To  imitate. 

2.  To  make  general  reflections  upon  known  facts. 

3.  To  distinguish  between  synonymous  words. 

4.  To  distinguish  between  synonymous  expressions. 

5.  To  examine  parallel  subjects. 

G.  To  examine  analogous  thoughts. 

7.  To  transfer  or  translate  the  reflections  arising  from  one 
subject  to  another  somewhat  similar. 

8.  To  analyze  a  chapter,  book,  poem,  &c. 

9.  To  develop  or  paraphrase  the  thoughts  of  an  author. 

10.  To  find  subjects  for  transference. 

11.  To  write  upon  a  literary  or  critical  subject;    to  furnish 
descriptions  of  things  observed. 

12.  To  imitate  a  thought. 

13.  To  write  letters. 

14.  To  portray  a  character. 

15.  To  compare  characters. 

16.  To  write  tales,  sketches,  &c. 

17.  To  verify  the  grammar. 

18.  To  write  upon  any  given  subject  in  a  given  time. 

19.  To  speak  extemporaneously  upon  a  given  subject. 

20.  All  is  in  all. 

During  the  performance  of  all  these  exercises,  the  pupil  con- 
tinues the  general  repetition  of  the  six  books  of  Telemachus,  and 
the  reading  (accompanied  with  recital)  of  the  remainder. 

A  very  brief  notice  of  the  most  important  exercises,  must  in  the 
present  instance,  suffice.  A  more  ample  development  may  be 
hereafter  furnished. 

1.  Imitations.  —  In  writing  an  imitation,  the'  pupil  applies  the 
terms  which  express  a  general  sentiment  by  means  of  special 
facts,  to  the  development  of  the  same  sentiment  under  different 
circumstances.  Thus,  Calypso  regretted  the  departure  of  Ulysses, 
and  Philoctetes,  in  the  fifteenth  book,  regretted  his  perjury,  in 
betraying  the  secret  of  the  burial-place  of  Hercules.  Inasmuch, 
then,  as  the  same  sentiment  is  exhibited  in  the  two  instances,  so 
will  the  general  terms  of  expression  be  the  same,  or  very  similar. 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION.  871 

The  circumstances  alone  entirely  differ.  To  describe  one,  there- 
fore, taking  the  other  as  a  model  for  general  phraseology  and  suc- 
cession of  circumstances,  is  to  produce  an  imitation.  Thus,  to 
recur  to  the  instances  already  cited,  the  pupil  preserves  the  features 
of  regret  and  sorrow  in  both ;  but  takes  due  care  to  notice,  that 
Calypso  was  a  goddess,  Philoctetes  a- mortal ;  that  the  one  lived 
in  a  beautiful  island,  and  was  attended  by  nymphs,  that  the  other 
inhabited  a  solitary  cavern,  and  was  surrounded  only  by  wild 
beasts  ;  that  the  former  lamented  the  loss  of  a  being  whom  she 
had  loved,  that  the  latter  deplored  the  commission  of  an  irretrieva- 
ble act  of  bad  faith,  &c.,  &c.  All  the  points  of  distinction  in  the 
two  cases  must  be  noticed,  while  those  only  are  to  be  preserved  in 
the  composition,  which  belong  to  the  subject  of  the  imitation.  A 
sentence  or  two  from  a  piece  written  by  one  of  Jacotot's  pupils, 
may  illustrate  this  exercise. 

"  The  grief  of  Philoctetes  for  having  revealed  the  secret  of 
Alcides*  death,  which  he  had  sworn  to  conceal,  would  admit  of  no 
comfort.  In  the  height  of  his  sorrow  he  found  the  remembrance 
of  his  perjury  less  supportable  than  the  cruel  abandonment  of  the 
Greeks,  the  treachery  of  Ulysses,  and  the  dreadful  agonies  occa- 
sioned by  his  wound.  Night  and  day  his  groans  reverberated 
through  the  cavern  in  which  he  dwelt,"  &c.,  &c. 

After  the  pupil  has  read  his  composition  aloud,  he  is  called  upon 
to  justify  the  introduction  of  each  circumstance. 

Q.  Why  have  you  said,  For  having  revealed  the  secret  of  Alcides' 
death? 

A.  Philoctetes  says  himself  (see  loth  book)  I  eluded  the  vow 
that  I  had  made  to  heaven,  &c. 

Q.  Why,  which  he  had  sworn  to  conceal? 

A.  Philoctetes  also  states  this  himself,  The  secret  which  I  had 
sworn  to  keep? 

Q.  Why  mention,  The  abandonment  of  the  Greeks,  the  treachery 
of  Ulysses,  &c.  ? 

A.  All  these  facts  are  particularized  in  the  history  of  Philoc- 
tetes, at  the  commencement  of  the  fifteenth  book  of  Telemaehus, 
&c.,  &c. 

It  is  easy  to  amplify  this,  as  every  other  series  of  questions 
proposed  in  accordance  with  the  system,  to  any  extent.  The  only 
direction  that  can  be  given  with  respect  to  their  number,  is,  that 
Hie  pupil  must  be  interrogated  until  he  evinces,  by  accounting  for  ewrjf 
expression  employed,  a  perfectly  accurate  conception  of  every  idea. 


372  PRINCIPLES   AND   PRACTICE   OF 

The  exercise  of  imitation,  now  under  notice,  is  especially  useful 
in  habituating  the  pupil  to  employ  correct  phraseology. 

2.  To  make  general  reflections  upon  iiarticular  facts. — This 
exercise  is  merely  an  extension  of  that  before  referred  to  under 
the  name  of  generalization.  The  pupil  now  takes  a  wider  range 
of  facts,  and  introduces  into  his  composition  a  greater  number  of 
reflections.  He  is  told  to  consider  attentively  a  given  passage  or 
passages  of  his  author,  and  to  derive  therefrom  the  reflections 
connected  with  a  proposed  subject.  His  success  will  evidently  be 
proportionate  to  the  combinations  of  facts  which  his  memory  will 
enable  him  to  form,  and  to  the  care  with  which  he  notices  every 
part  of  his  subject.  He  thus  learns  to  perceive  how  the  actual 
state  of  things  under  review  is  influenced  by  the  modifications  of 
the  sentiment  which  he  is  required  to  develop.  Children  begin  to 
generalize  naturally,  and  to  study  the  reciprocal  relations  of  cause 
and.  effect,  at  a  much  earlier  age  than  we  are  accustomed  to  con- 
sider ;  but  their  faculties  often  lie  dormant  because  we  overlook 
their  existence.  The  process  of  Jacotot's  system  leads  the  young 
pupil  to  observe,  that  he  partakes  in  the  common  features  of  human 
nature,  and  hence  spontaneous!}'  generalizes  upon  matters  which 
concern  him.  By  extending  this  principle,  he  considers  that  were 
he  placed  in  circumstances  similar  to  those  unfolded  in  his  book, 
his  actions  would,  for  the  most  part,  resemble  those  attributed  to 
the  personages  under  his  notice.  He  knows  as  well  that  sorrow 
attends  the  loss  of  anything  he  may  have  held  dear,  as  that  the 
sunbeams  do  not  freeze  water ;  aud  hence  he  acknowledges  that 
the  grief  of  Calypso,  for  instance,  resembles  human  grief  in  gen- 
eral. This  is  the  true  basis  of  the  exercise  in  question. 

Every  sentence  that  the  pupil  reads  and  thoroughly  understands, 
must  suggest  a  reflection  of  some  kind  or  other.  If,  then,  he  dis- 
covers in  every  instance  the  name  of  this  reflection  —  the  proper 
terms  in  which  it  should  be  expressed,  the  difficulty  is  over. 

To  exemplify  the  exercise  is  unnecessary.  It  should  be  remem- 
bered, that  the  pupil  must  be  able  to  justify  every  reflection  by 
reference  to  the  facts  upon  which  it  is  founded. 

As  soon  as  the  pupil  is  tolerably  well  accustomed  to  this  kind 
of  composition,  it  is  considered  advisable  to  exercise  him  in 
speaking  upon  different  subjects.  The  greatest  difficulty  is,  to 
induce  him  to  make  the  attempt ;  but  when  once  his  reluctance 
has  been  overcome,  he  will  easily  advance,  and  with  undoubted 
success. 

3.  Synonymous  words.    4.  Synonymous  phrases. — When  called 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION.  373 

upon  to  distinguish  between  words  or  phrases,  generally  accounted 
synonymous,  the  pupil,  in  the  first  instance,  repeats  from  memory 
a  number  (the  extent  of  which  may  be  determined  b'y  the  teacher) 
of  sentences  containing  the  words  or  phrases  in  question,  and  he 
is  particularly  urged  to  recollect  the  precise  circumstances  in  which 
they  were  employed  by  the  author.  He  is  then  required  to  pro- 
duce a  general  composition,  founded  upon  the  especial  facts  under 
his  notice,  of  every  part  of  which  composition  he  is  finally  made 
to  render  an  account. 

When  he  becomes  well  practised  in  this  exercise,  he  is  shown, 
that  the  authors  who  have  written  on  synonymy,  have  arrived  at 
their  results,  by  pursuing  a  method  precisely  similar  to  that  in 
which  he  has  been  led ;  and  that  if  their  productions  are  more 
methodical  and  elaborate  than  his  own,  the  only  reason  for  this 
superiority  is  found  in  the  greater  patience  and  attention  that  they 
have  bestowed  on  the  subject.  Thus,  for  instance,  the  explanation 
of  any  particular  word,  as  given  by  some  reputable  writer  on  the 
subject,  (Girard,  or  Crabbe,  or  Hill,  for  instance),  is  read  to  the 
pupil,  and  he  is  told  to  justify  every  part  of  it  by  facts  witli  which 
his  memory  will  supply  him  from  the  pages  of  Telemachus.  By 
110  means  the  least  advantage  consequent  upon  this  practice,  is  its 
leading  the  pupil  to  discover,  that  in  learning  one  book  thoroughly 
he  learns  all  books;  for  the  writer  of  the  sj'nonymes  undoubtedly 
collected  his  observations  from  a  vast  number  of  sources,  though 
this  exercise  proves  that  the  justificator}7  facts  may  be  derived 
from  a  single  one. 

5.  Parallel  subjects.  6.  Analogous  thoughts.  —  As  a  preliminary 
part  of  the  former  of  these  exercises,  the  pupil  is  required  to  furnish 
an  analysis  of  all  the  books  of  Telemachus.  The  following  short 
specimen  of  an  analysis  of  part  of  the  first  book  may  suffice  to 
give  an  idea  of  what  is  meant :  —  regrets,  —  artifice,  —  entreaty,  — 
imitation,  —  situation,  —  advice,  —  repast,  —  invitation,  &c.  In 
this  way,  the  pupil  learns  to  notice  the  different  parts  of  his  author, 
in  which  similar  subjects  are  treated,  and  he  is  then  required  to 
contrast  the  manner  of  composition  in  an}'  two  or  more  of  them. 
For  instance,  Telemachus  in  the  first  book,  addresses  Acestes,  — 
and  in  the  second,  —  Nesostris  — the  pupil  must  compare  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  these  addresses  were  made,  and  their 
respective  objects  — 

1st.  Telemachus,  wandering  in  search  of  his  father,  is  in  the 
presence  of  a  king ;  the  subject  is  the  same. 


374  PRINCIPLES   AND   PRACTICE   OF 

2d.    The  situation  is  the  same.     He  is  in  the  power  of  Acestes, 
• — he  is  in  the  power  of  Sesostris. 

3d.    But  Acestes  speaks  harshly  to  him.  —  Sesostris  treats  him 
with  kindness,  &c.,  &c. 

The  above  will  serve  to  show  the  design  of  this  exercise,  to  the 
careful  performance  of  which,  great  importance  is  attached. 

The  process  of  examining  analogous  thoughts  requires  no  expla- 
nation. The  pupil  has  only  to  perform  with  the  general  reflections, 
what  he  has  in  the  preceding  exercise,  performed  with  the  facts  of 
his  author.  As  a  variation,  the  pupil  is  told  to  open  any  book 
whatever,  at  random,  and  read  aloud  the  first  sentence  that  his  eye 
may  happen  to  glance  upon.  He  is  then  asked  to  bring  to  mind 
reflections  or  facts  in  Telemachus  similar  to  that  accidentally  dis- 
covered in  the  book  which  he  opens.  It  will  rarely  happen  that  a 
single  reflection  can  thus  come  under  his  view,  in  which  he  cannot 
observe  some  point  of  similarity  to  those  already  remarked  in  the 
pages  of  Telemachus.  Sometimes  a  maxim  is  selected  from  any 
book  of  general  reflections,  and  tlie,pupil  is  required  to  justify  it  by 
facts  from  Telemachus.  Wherever  he  turns  his  eyes,  he  perceives 
Fenelon,  and  hence  Jacotot  contends,  that  one  book  contains  all 
books,  or  more  generally,  that  All  is  in  all.  In  this  technical 
expression,  All  is  in  all,  is  comprehended  the  fundamental  principle 
of  the  Universal  Instruction. 

7.  Translation  or  Transfer.  —  This  exercise  is  somewhat  similar 
to  that  termed  Imitation,  but  differs  from  it  in  assuming  a  more 
general  character.  In  the  latter,  particular  circumstances  are 
imitated ;  translation  consists  in  imitating  the  general  reflections 
derived  from  those  particular  circumstances,  and  it  therefore 
embraces  the  results  of  two  distinct  operations  of  the  mind.  The 
pupil  must  generalize  before  he  can  transfer,  —  this  is  not  neces- 
sary in  the  exercise  of  imitation,  in  which  a  simple  comparison  of 
facts  is  required. 

Thus  it  was  before  seen,  that  the  circumstances  of  Calypso's 
grief,  resembled,  in  several  respects,  those  which  evidenced  the 
wretchedness  of  Philoctetes,  and  upon  this  observed  similarity 
was  founded  an  imitation.  The  regret  of  Calypso,  stripped  of 
the  accessory  circumstances,  must  resemble  in  certain  points,  all 
regrets  whatever.  Hence  the  regrets  of  the  victim  of  ambition,  may 
be  modelled  on  the  regret  of  Calypso,  and  thus  will  be  performed  the 
exercise  of  translation.  Every  passage  in  the  book  may  furnish 
materials  for  it,  and  by  the  combination  of  passages,  one  with 
another,  the  resources  become  positively  inexhaustible. 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION.      :;T."> 

It  would  be  impossible,  consistently  with  the  plan  of  the  present 
publication,  to  enter  into  the  details  of  the  succeeding  exercises. 
If  those  already  explained,  have  been  rendered  intelligible,  the 
slightest  consideration  will  suffice  to  show  the  nature  and  object  of 
the  rest.  The  12th  is  a  very  important  exercise.  —  To  write  on  any 
subject  whatever.  Thus,  an  ode,  a  sonnet,  an  oration,  &c.,  &c., 
being  put  into  the  pupil's  hands,  he  is  required  to  determine  from, 
the  production  itself  the  rules  of  art  according  to  which  it  is  constructed. 
Whatever  be  the  subject,  he  learns  to  describe  it  in  the  common 
language  with  which  he  is  acquainted  by  his  previous  training. 
The  dialects  of  science  and  art,  he  may  subsequently  acquire.  He 
is  exercised  in  Epistolary  Composition,  by  being  required  to  write 
letters,  with  an  object  in  view,  and  upon  subjects  which  he  well 
comprehends.  Thus  he  keeps  up  a  fictitious  correspondence 
between  Penelope,  Telemachus,  Mentor,  Ulysses,  &c.  In  making 
Portraits,  the  pupil  traces  biographical  sketches  of  the  various 
personages  of  his  model-book,  abstracting  their  characteristic 
features  from  the  associations  in  which  they  are  originally  found. 
To  this  succeeds  the  exercise  of  comparing  one  portrait  with 
another,  or,  as  it  is  termed,  making  parallels  (after  the  manner 
of  Plutarch) ,  the  importance  of  which  speaks  for  itself. 

Last  of  all  comes  the  examination  of  grammar,  the  comprehen- 
sion of  which  is  rendered  by  the  previous  course  remarkably  easy, 
for  the  pupil  already  knows  the  language.  He  is  now  only  called 
upon  to  remark  the  correctness  of  his  own  observations,  .and  to 
verify  the  observations  of  others  by  comparison  with  facts  which 
have  long  been  in  his  possession.  This  verification  forms  a  vied 
voce  exercise  for  the  pupil,  and,  when  once  gone  through,  will 
scarcely  need  repetition.  He  is  told  beforehand,  that  the  study 
of  grammar  will  add  nothing  to  his  knowledge  of  the  language,  as 
far  as  words  and  phrases  are  concerned,  and  that  he  will  not  be 
supplied  by  that  science  with  resources  of  expression  previously 
inaccessible.  He  simply  learns  the  technical  verbiage  adopted 
to  express  the  observations  made  upon  the  nature,  order,  and 
reciprocal  relations,  of  the  words  of  the  language.  Hy  comparing, 
therefore,  his  own  observations  with  those  of  the  grammarian,  the 
pupil  acquires  the  conventional  terms  in  which  they  are  appropri- 
ately expressed. 

A  grammar  is  put  into  his  hands,  which  he  is  directed  to  read, 
at  the  same  time  carefully  reflecting  upon  every  sentence,  and 
producing  from  Telemachus  examples  confirmatory  of  every  obser- 
vation and  rule  met  with.  Thus,  for  instance,  he  reads,  — A  nouu 


376  PRINCIPLES   AND   PRACTICE   OF 

is  the  name  of  anything  which  exists,  or  of  which  we  have  any 
notion.  This  definition  he  at  once  justifies  by  adducing  the  words 
grotto,  turf,  &c.,  as  the  names  of  things  that  exist;  and  sorrow, 
anger,  &c.,  as  the  names  of  things  of  which  he  has  a  notion.  This 
example  will  suffice  to  show  the  nature  of  the  exercise. 

The  exercises  of  extemporaneous  composition  and  speaking  upon 
a  given  subject  (and  in  the  former  cases  within  a  given  time  of  ten 
minutes  or  a  quarter  of  an  hour) ,  are  rather  to  be  considered  as 
developments  of  the  astonishing  capabilities  of  the  s^-stem,  than  as 
necessary  parts  of  the  process  employed.  The  pupil  who  shall 
have  performed  every  previous  exercise,  will,  of  necessity,  be  com- 
petent to  the  performance  of  these,  since  all  the  elements  which 
enter  into  them  will  have  become  perfectly  familiar  to  him  by 
incessant  repetition.  He  has  been  habituated  to  the  vivd  voce 
recitation  of  facts  from  the  very  commencement,  as  well  as  to 
repeated  compositions,  both  specific  and  general,  and  he  is  now 
required  to  perform,  in  an  unpremeditated  manner,  that  which 
was  in  the  first  instance  the  work  of  mature  deliberation.  Sur- 
prising, then,  as  are  exhibitions  of  this  kind,  when  considered  by 
themselves,  they  appear  simply  as  the  natural  results  of  the  previ- 
ous process,  to  any  one  who  carefully  estimates  the  end  attained, 
by  the  propriety  of  the  means  employed.  But  it  should  be  remem- 
bered, that  such  results  were  never  before  attained  by  any  process, 
nor  are  they  now  attainable  by  any  other  than  that  of  Jacotot,  for 
the  Universal  Instruction  is  the  Educational  System  of  Nature. 

The  last  exercise  consists  in  verifying  the  assertion,  All  is  in  all. 
,  As  soon  as  the  pupil  knows  Telemachus,  he  is  required  to  point 
out,  speaking  extemporaneously,  the  particular  art  exhibited  by 
Fenelon  in  the  composition  of  that  work ;  he  is  directed  to  refer 
other  productions  of  literary  art  to  this,  and  to  observe,  that  the 
human  mind,  under  all  circumstances,  whatever  be  its  ends  or 
means,  follows  very  nearly  the  same  route.  It  is  scarcely  possible 
to  take  any  two  sentences  from  any  two  works  of  the  most  opposite 
character  and  nature,  without  observing  some  points  of  similarity. 
If  the  whole  of  one  complex  idea  is  not  like  the  whole  of  another, 
some  of  the  subordinate  components  will  discover  mutual  analogies 
and  relations.  Thus,  every  action  must  be  like  every  other  action 
in  several  respects.  No  action  can  be  performed  without  an  agent 
and  an  object,  nor  without  the  intervention  of  motion.  Other 
circumstances  may  vary,  but  these  are  of  necessity  fixed.  More 
generally,  it  may  be  asserted,  that  though  one  book  does,,  not, 
strictly  speaking,  contain  all  others,  yet  it  contains  some  particulars 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION.  377 

which  are  common  to  all  others :  it  contains  the  starting-points 
of  all  knowledge,  though  not  the  amplification  of  the  full  course. 
It  has  been  remarked,  that  the  entire  amount,  independent  of 
repetitions,  of  human  knowledge,  might  be  comprehended  in  a 
very  few  volumes.  The  method  of  Jacotot  tends  to  confirm  the 
correctness  of  this  observation,  and  the  proposition,  All  is  in  all, 
in  fact,  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  system.  It  is  because  All  As 
in  all,  that  the  precept,  Learn  something  thoroughly,  and  refer  every- 
thing else  to  it,  leads  in  practice  to  results  so  astonishing  as  those 
which  are  the  proud  trophies  of  the  Universal  Instruction.  Hence  it 
is,  that  by  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  words,  syllables,  and 
letters,  of  the  first  sixty  lines  of  Telemachus,  the  pupil  is  taught 
to  read,  —  that  by  writing  only  one  line  well,  he  learns  the  entire 
graphic  art,  —  that  by  completely  mastering  one  book,  he  masters 
all  books,  —  that  is,  acquires  the  language.  It  would  be  easy  to 
show,  that  this  principle  is  not  limited  to  the  bare  facts  just 
enumerated,  —  to  the  mere  operative  machinery  of  education,  — 
but  that  it  pervades  the  Universe  of  Nature.  It  only  assumes 
another  form  when  we  call  man  a  microcosm,  —  a  miniature  of 
the  entire  mass  of  human  intelligence.  It  is  merely  modified  by 
Byron,  when  he  says,  — 

History,  with  all  her  volumes  vast, 

Hath  but  one  page : 

and  again,  contemplating  a  solitary  ruin  of  Rome,  — 
Ages  and  realms  are  crowded  in  this  span. 

Lady  Montague,  when  she  wittily  said  she  had  travelled  from 
London  to  Constantinople,  and  could  find  nothing  but  men  and 
women,  and  the  common  sense  of  mankind,  when  it  pronounces 
that  Men  are  ever  the  same,  —  merely  diversify  the  proposition, 
All  is  in  all.  The  observation  has  been  made  thousands  of  years 
ago,  but  Jacotot  has  first  conceived  the  idea  of  rendering  it  practi- 
cally useful,  of  deriving  from  it  a  precept  applicable  to  the  acquire- 
ment of  the  various  elements  of  Universal  Knowledge.  He  then, 
says  Jacotot,  who  knoics  one  book  knows  all  books,  for  all  is  in  all. 
Let  not  the  expression  be  contemned.  Those  who  have  shone 
most  as  divines,  poets,  mathematicians,  orators,  sculptors,  or 
painters,  were  men  who  devoted  themselves  to  one  book,  to  one 
model.  The  profound  theologian,  is  he  who  is  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted, not  with  countless  glosses  and  comments,  but  with  that 


378  PRINCIPLES   AND   PRACTICE   OF 

one  book  —  the  Bible.  The  argument  likewise  receives  confirmation 
from  the  fact,  that  Demosthenes  wrote  out  the  Greek  History  of 
Thucydides  eight  times,  —  that  Racine  committed  to  memory,  and 
repeated  very  often,  the  entire  works  of  Euripides.  Will  not  he 
who  is  thoroughly  master  of  the  Iliad  find  a  translation  of  it  in  the 
^Eneid,  and  again,  for  the  most  part,  in  Paradise  Lost?  This 
observation  respects  ideas  only ;  but  considering  both  language 
and  ideas,  is  not  the  Iliad  of  Homer  to  be  found  in  the  greater 
portion  of  the  dramas  of  JEschylus,  Sophocles,  and  Euripides? 
Without  doubt,  —  and  he  who  knows  (according  to  the  system  of 
Jacotot)  the  Iliad,  will  have  very  few  difficulties  to  contend  with 
in  reading  the  Greek  tragedians.  He  who  would  be  a  geometer 
learns  thoroughly  Euclid's  elements,  and  refers  everything  con- 
nected with  geometry  to  them.  Again,  a  grain  of  sand  resembles 
a  world  ;  and  the  assertion  in  mathematics,  that  two  and  two 
make  four,  is  analogous  to  this  in  moral  reasoning,  —  that  an 
accumulation  of  facts  strengthens  conviction ;  increased  conse- 
quent force  are  common  to  both ;  hence  All  is  in  all.  In  Tele- 
machus  then  is  found  grammar,  history,  geography,  &c.,  and,  in 
fact,  all  the  subjects  before  particularized.  The  author  abbreviates 
in  some  passages  what  he  amplifies  in  others.  He  imitates  him- 
self ;  he  translates  himself  ;  he  does,  in  short,  everything  that  the 
human  mind  can  do,  in  any  science  whatever. 

To  show  how  the  principle  is  verified,  the  teacher  opens  any 
author,  —  Massillon,  for  instance,  and  reads  — 

"  Pleasure  is  the  first  thing  that  endangers  our  innocence.  The 
other  passions  develop  themselves  and  ripen  (so  to  speak)  only 
with  the  advancement  of  reason." 

The  pupil  is  asked  if  he  can  verify  the  reflections  of  Massillon 
by  the  facts  of  Fenelon  ;  and  he  answers  in  the  following  manner  : — 

Telemachus  yielding  to  pleasure  in  the  island  of  Cyprus,  shows 
that  pleasure  endangers  innocence,  and  it  is  the  first  thing ;  because, 
on  the  first  occasion  in  which  Telemachus  found  himself  exposed 
to  peril,  pleasure  was  the  cause.  The  other  passions,  &c.  —  this 
is  seen  b}-  Telemachus  in  the  camp  of  the  allies,  by  Idomeneus,  &c. 

It  is  easily  seen  that  this  exercise  may  be  diversified  to  an  in- 
definite extent.  Not  merely  literary  productions,  but  all  works 
relating  to  science  and  the  fine  arts  are  submitted  to  its  operation, 
and  the  result,  in  every  case,  verifies  the  proposition  All  is  in  all. 
The  same  thing  may  be  said  of  the  system  itself,  properly  desig- 
nated from  its  comprehensiveness,  Universal  Instruction.  Here 


JACOTOT'S   SYSTEM   OF   EDUCATION.  379 

All  is  in  all;  the  features  of  the  whole  are  discoverable  in  every 
part,  and  its  method,  therefore,  is  the  exact  counterpart  of  the 
method  of  Nature. 


The  brief  exposition  originally  contemplated  is  now  brought  to 
a  termination,  and  the  system  of  Jacotot  is  before  the  reader.  It 
would  be  incompatible  with  the  evident  design  of  the  present 
publication,  to  show  the  manner  of  applying  the  principles  enforced 
and  illustrated  in  the  preceding  pages,  to  the  various  subjects 
generally  considered  to  form  —  an  Education.  If,  however,  the 
reader  thoroughly  comprehends  the  precept,  Learn  something 
thoroughly,  and  refer  everything  else  to  it,  he  will  have  no  difficultv 
in  perceiving  the  manner  of  its  application  to  them.  The  pupil 
must  still  learn  by  heart,  —  repeat  incessantly,  —  compare  by 
reflection,  —  and  verify  the  observations  of  others  ;  and  the  teacher 
must  still  be  careful  to  explain  nothing,  —  to  interrogate  perpetu- 
ally,  —  to  make  the  pupil  discover  his  own  errors,  and  justify 
everything  performed  by  himself. 

To  furnish  some  idea  of  the  manner  of  its  application  to  clas- 
sical languages,  the  writer  of  this  pamphlet  is  enabled  to  state  the 
particulars  of  an  experiment  made  by  himself  upon  a  pupil,  a  little 
boy  of  only  eleven  years  of  age.  The  experiment  was  instituted, 
and  is  now  carrying  on,  under  circumstances  by  no  means  favorable 
to  the  attainment  of  a  flattering  result,  and  which  indeed  rendered 
the  thorough  adoption  of  the  method  of  Jacotot  inadvisable. 
Enough,  however,  has  been  positively  ascertained,  to  allow  of  A 
tolerably  accurate  conjecture  as  to  the  ultimate  result.  The  little 
pupil  in  question,  had  been  some  time  employed  in  committing  to 
memory  the  Greek  grammar,  and  was  al>out  to  commence  the 
business  of  elementary  translation  in  that  language,  just  at  the 
time  when  the  writer  of  these  pages  first  heard  of  the  New  System. 
It  was  resolved  by  him,  at  once  to  put  the  pretensions  of  this 
method  to  the  test,  and  to  make  his  pupil  proceed  according  to  the 
instructions  of  Jacotot.  The  grammar  was  therefore  temj>orarily 
abandoned,  and  the  Iliad  of  Homer,  with  an  interlinear  translation 
of  the  first  book,  was  at  onee  put  into  the  pupil's  hands.  He  was 
told  to  commit  to  memory,  the  first  five  lines,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  observe  attentively  in  his  translation,  the  English  meaning  of 
every  word  contained  in  them.  Five  additional  lines  were  stipu- 
lated for  the  next  day's  task,  which  were  repeated,  together  with 
the  five  first  learned.  He  continued  to  learn  daily  five  or  six 


380  PKLNCIPLES  AND   PRACTICE   OF 

lines,  always  commencing  the  repetition  with  the  beginning  of  the 
book,  until  one  hundred  were  thoroughly  impressed  on  his  memory, 
which  brings  the  experiment  to  the  period  of  the  present  state- 
ment. Whatever  improvement  then  is  at  present  evident,  has 
been  derived  from  the  thorough  investigation  of  this  century  of 
Greek  verses.  At  first,  the  task  of  committing  even  five  verses 
to  memory,  and  repeating  them  without  a  single  error,  was  thought 
very  difficult  by  the  pupil,  and  the  blundering  and  hesitancy  of  the 
first  repetition,  certainly  repressed  a  little  the  sanguine  anticipa- 
tions of  his  instructor.  Perseverance,  however,  in  the  practice  of 
always  commencing  with  the  first  word  learned,  soon  produced  a 
surprising  facility  of  repetition.  Within  a  week,  the  first  thirty 
verses  were  so  well  impressed  on  the  pupil's  memory,  that  he 
could  not  only  repeat  them  as  quickly  as  utterance  would  permit, 
without  the  omission  of  a  single  word,  but  whenever  the  first  word 
of  any  sentence  whatever  contained  in  them  was  mentioned,  he 
continued  that  sentence  without  the  slightest  hesitation.  But  more 
than  this,  whatever  word  was  pronounced,  even  though  it  were  a  mere 
tmemphatical  conjunction,  he  could  repeat  successively  every  line  in 
which  it  was  to  be  found,  within  the  range  of  his  then  limited 
acquaintance  with  the  book. 

Before,  however,  the  pupil  had  arrived  at  this  proficiency  of 
repetition,  —  as  soon,  indeed,  as  the  second  lesson  had  been  re- 
peated, he  was  directed  to  translate,  from  the  Greek  text  alone, 
the  ten  lines  with  which  he  had  then  become  acquainted,  by  means 
of  the  interlinear  translation.  This  being  performed  without  the 
least  difficulty,  a  series  of  questions  upon  the  subject  itself  was 
commenced  by  the  instructor,  of  which  the  following  formed  a 
part.  The  answers  are  nearly  verbatim  those  given  by  the  pupil 
himself.* 

Q.  What  is  the  subject  of  the  Iliad  of  Homer? 

A.  The  wrath  of  Achilles. 

Q.  How  do  you  ascertain  that  ? 

A.  Because  the  Muse  is  called  upon  by  Homer  to  sing  the  wrath 
of  Achilles. 

Q.  Do  you  know  whether  the  wrath  of  Achilles  produced  any 
mischievous  effects? 

A.  Yes  ;  it  is  called  destructive  wrath,  and1  Homer  says  it  caused 
ten  thousand  u-oes  to  the  Achaians. 

*  It  should  he  observed,  that  the  very  words  and  phrases  of  the  Greek  text  were  given  In 
the  answers  of  the  pupil.  It  was  not  thought  necessary  to  intermingle  the  two  languages  in 
the  present  illustration. 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION.  381 

Q.  Has  the  epithet  destwctive  any  connection  witli  the  fact,  that 
ten  thousand  woes  were  occasioned  by  the  wrath  of  AchiK 

A.   Yes  ;   it  was  called  destructive,  because  it  occasioned,  &c. 

o.  What  kind  of  scenery  may  we  expect  to  be  introduced  to  in 
the  Iliad? 

A.  Scenes  of  battle  and  bloodshed. 

Q.   Why  not  pictures  of  pastoral  happiness  or  riotous  joy? 

A.  Because  these  would  be  inconsistent  with  destnt, •///•/<  I'-mtli. 

Q.  Why  inconsistent ;  could  not  then  these  be  introduced  into 
the  poem? 

A.  Yes  ;  but  there  must  be  more  of  the  others. 

Q.  What  do  you  infer  from  the  expression, — And  made  tl,>,n 
prey  to  the  dogs  and  all  birds  f 

A.  That  their  bodies  were  left  unburied  on  the  field  of  battle. 

Q.  Does  it  positively  state  that? 

A.  No  ;  but  if  they  had  been  buried,  the  dogs  and  birds  could 
not  have  got  at  them.* 

After  about  twenty  lines  had  boon  translated,  and  examined 
thoroughly  by  questions,  in  order  to  discover  whether  hi.s  attention 
had  been  uniform,  the  following  question  was  asked  :  — 

Did  you  perceive  in  any  line  that  you  have  translated,  a  word 
or  words  not  strictly  necessary  to  the  sense  ? 

The  prompt  answer  was  —  Yes  ;  Homer  says,  Apollo  sent  an  evil 
pestilence  into  the  camp  ;  the  word  evil  is  not  quite  necessary, 
it  could  not  be  good. 

He  afterwards  said  he  thought  there  was  another  such  instance 
in  the  eighth  verse,  —  to  light  in  xfrife,  they  could  not  fight,  he 
said,  without  st >•>'/< •. 

To  ascertain  how  far  he  could  generalize  upon  what  he  knew. 
he  was  told  to  observe  the  twelfth  and  nine  lollowiiiT  verses  (which 
narrate  the  arrival  of  Chryses  at  the  camp  of  the  Aehaians  for  the 
purpose  of  redeeming  his  daughter,  with  his  address  to  the  army), 
and  to  mention  the  sentiment  or  feeling  discovered  in  action.  lie 
at  once  answered,  Parental  affection.  The  subjoined  colloquy 
then  occurred. 

().   Why  came  Chryses  to  the  Achaian  camp? 

A.  To  redeem  for  him.-elf  his  daughter. 

*  As  the  instructor  li.-ul  re-olved  to  make  tho  pupil  find  out  everything  himwlf,  It  was  not 
thought  advisable  l<>  explain  that  the  Greek*  were  aeriiKtoraed  to  burn  and  not  to  bury  their 
•dead.  lie  shortly  after  inferred  this  himself  frmn  the  fifty. »econd  line,  where  It  In  utated. 
that  funeral  pyres  were  incesxatitli/  burning  In  the  camp  of  the  Achaian*.  on  account  of  tho 
numbers  destroyed  by  the  pestilence.  Other  passages  subsequently  met  with  he  rrfrrrrd 
to  this,  and  thus  confirmed  his  conjecture. 


382  PRINCIPLES   AND    PRACTICE   OF 

Q.  How  did  he  hope  to  effect  his  wishes  ? 

A.  By  bringing  boundless  ransoms,  and  by  showing  himself  to 
be  Apollo's  priest. 

Q.  What  did  he  appeal  to  in  bringing  ransoms? 

A.  Their  love  of  money. 

Q.  And  what  in  exhibiting  the  ensiguia  of  the  priesthood? 

A.  To  their  religious  reverence. 

Q.  Can  you  confirm  your  assertions  ? 

A.  Yes ;  Chryses,  in  his  address  to  the  army,  begs  them  to 
liberate  his  daughter,  reverencing  the  son  of  Jove,  far-darting 
Apollo. 

The  pupil  having  been  led  by  two  or  three  simple  questions,  to 
notice  that  Chryses  the  priest,  is  twice  observed  supplicating 
within  the  first  fifty  verses,  was  told  to  distinguish  between  the 
objects  of  these  two  several  addresses,  and  the  persons  to  whom 
they  were  made.  He  answered,  —  Chryses,  in  the  first  instance, 
addressed  Atrides  and  the  Achaian  camp,  —  in  the  second,  King 
Apollo.  The  object  of  his  first  prayer  was,  the  recovery  of  his 
daughter  ;  of  the  second,  vengeance  on  those  who  had  insulted  him. 

It  was  remarked,  —  the  expression  of  Chryses  is, — May  the 
Danaans  atone  for  my  tears  by  thy  darts.  What  have  you  to  say 
upon  this? 

A.  The  Greeks  had  given  him  tears,  and  he  asked  Apollo  to 
give  them  darts. 

His  reasoning  faculty  was  sometimes  brought  into  exercise  by 
the  following  plan  :  —  Any  fact  amongst  those  that  he  knew,  was 
chosen  as  a  point  to  set  out  from,  and  he  was  made  to  show  how 
it  stood  connected  in  both  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect,  with 
what  preceded  and  succeeded  it.  For  example,  verse  58  :  — 

And  rising  up,  addressed  the  swift-footed  Achilles  — 

Q.  Whom  did  Achilles  address? 

A.  The  people  then  assembled. 

Q.  Why  were  they  assembled? 

A.  Because  Achilles  had  called  them  together. 

Q.  Why? 

A.  Because  Juno  put  it  into  his  mind  to  do  so. 

Q.  Why? 

A.  Because  she  pitied  the  Danaans. 

Q.  Why  did  she  pity  them  ? 

A.  Because  she  saw  them  dj-ing. 

().  Why  dying? 


JACOTOT'S  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION." 

A.   Because  Apollo  had  sent  a  pestilence. 

Q.  Why? 

A.  Because  he  was  enraged  at  his  heart. 

Q.  Why  was  he  enraged? 

A.  Because  Chryses  had  told  him  of  his  wrongs,  and  prayed 
for  revenge. 

Q.  Why  did  Chryses  thus  pray  ? 

A.  Because  he  had  been  harshly  treated. 

Q.  Who  treated  him  harshly? 

A.  Agamemnon,  because  he  did  not  wish  to  give  up  his 
daughter. 

Q.  How  do  you  know  Agamemnon  had  her? 

A.  Because  he  says  expressly,  —  J  will  not  liberate  her  until  old 
age  comes  upon  her  in  our  (or  my)  house  in  Argos. 

Q.  Do  you  know  from  any  single  passage  what  we  have  thus 
discovered,  namely,  that  the  harsh  treatment  of  Chryses  was  the 
cause  of  the  pestilence  sent  upon  the  army  ? 

A.  Yes;  Homer  states  it  beforehand,  — the  son  of  Latona  and 
Jove,  being  enraged  with  the  king,  sent  a  pestilence,  &c.,  because 
Agamemnon  dishonored  Chryses,  &c. 

He  was  thus  led  to  perceive  the  unity  of  design  pervading  the 
work,  and  to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  every  circumstance  introduced. 
But  he  did  more.  Not  a  single  word  was  passed  until  the  idea  of 
which  it  was  the  representative  was  distinctly  pictured  in  his  mind, 
and  hence,  whenever  the  word  afterwards  occurred,  both  the  idea 
itself  (which  is  evidently  independent  of  language),  and  the 
English  term  which  answered  to  it,  were  instantaneously  suggested. 
The  constant  repetition  was  maintained,  and  his  acquaintance  with 
the  English  expressions  equivalent  to  those  of  the  Greek  was 
ascertained,  by  the  exercise  of  giving  sometimes  the  Greek  phrase 
and  requiring  instantly  the  corresponding  literal  English;  some- 
times by  giving  the  latter  and  requiring  the  former:  —  thus,  the 
pupil  was  told  to  give  the  Greek  for  "  Sing  thou  the  wrath  of 
Achilles,"  —  "  and  prematurely  sent  many  brave  souls,"  —  "  and 
the  will  of  Jove  was  accomplished,"  &c.  In  the  first  instance, 
the  exact  expression  was  preserved.  After  a  little  time,  the 
exercise  was  varied  by  slightly  changing  the  sentences,  still  requir- 
ing nothing  but  what  (as  his  prompt  answers  invariably  showed) 
he  was  fully  competent  to  perform,  thus  —  "Sing  thou,  goddess, 
the  wrath  of  Pelides*  son,"  —  u  and  sent  brave  souls,"  &c. 

After  his  perfect  acquaintance  with  the  corresponding  terms  and 
expressions  in  the  two  languages  was  thus  ascertained,  and  he  had 


384     PRINCIPLES  OF  JACOTOT  S  SYSTKM  <>K  EDUCATION. 

been  interrogated  (as  previously  shown) ,  it  was  considered  that 
he  thoroughly  understood  the  sense  of  the  hundred  lines  in  ques- 
tion, and  his  attention  was  sedulously  directed  to  the  terminations, 
prefixes,  &c.,  of  all  the  words,  and  to  the  strict  analysis  of  com- 
pounds. Whenever  a  word  came  under  notice  which  he  had  before 
known,  but  the  meaning  of  which  he  had  forgotten,  he  was  made 
to  refer  to  the  previous  sentences  in  which  it  was  found,  discover 
what  must  have  been  its  signification  there,  and  give  the  same 
meaning  in  the  passage  in  question.  He  was  never  told  a  single 
word,  nor  allowed  to  refer  to  dictionary  or  interlinear  translation 
while  receiving  a  lesson.  The  author  was  always  made  to  inter- 
pret himself.*  The  present  result  is  easily  stated.  From  the 
acquaintance  he  has  obtained  with  the  hundred  lines  in  question, 
after  not  more  than  twelve  hours  of  lessons,  it  is  considered  (and 
indeed  this  has  been  ascertained  by  careful  examination),  that  he 
will  scarcely  meet  with  fifty  words  in  the  remainder  of  the  first 
book  of  the  Iliad,  of  which  he  will  not  know  something.  He  will 
be  able  to  interpret  the  meaning,  the  prefix,  or  the  termination. 
Other  experiments  of  the  same  kind  are  now  making,  the  results 
of  which  will  shortly  appear. 

From  the  preceding  pages  it  appears  that  the  advantages  of  Jaco- 
tot's  system  may  be  comprehended  in  the  following  summary :  — 
It  calls  into  action  the  mental  faculties  of  the  pupil  himself,  —  he 
cannot  rely  on  his  teacher,  he  gains  confidence  in  his  own  powers, 
and  his  improvement  is  of  necessity  solid.  Hence,  It  tends  to  culti- 
vate in  the  highest  possible  degree  the  faculty  of  attention.  It  employs 
the  analytical  plan  in  place  of  the  synthetical,  —  the  pupil  is  not 
puzzled  with  abstractions  and  generalities  at  the  first  stage ;  he  is 
previously  led  to  comprehend  the  facts  upon  which  they  are 
founded.  It  thus  conducts  from  the  "known  to  the  unknoivn, — the 
pupil  makes  what  he  knows  serviceable  in  interpreting  what  he 
knows  not.  It  exercises  equally  the  memory  and  the  judgment,  — 
everything  that  the  pupil  commits  to  memory  he  makes  thoroughly 
his  own  by  reflection.  And  finally,  it  ensures  the  utmost  facility  of 
performance  by  the  incessant  repetition  of  every  prescribed  lesson 
and  exercise. 

*  The  following  passage  from  the  "  Quarterly  Review,"  No.  XLIV.,  serves  to  enforce  the  ' 
superiority  of  this  method   of  acquiring  languages.    "  The  only  method  of  obtaining  an 
accurate  or  extensive  knowledge  of  any  language  is,  to  study  it  with  as  little  use  of  the  dic- 
tionary as  possible,  to  discover  the  exact  signification  and  propriety  of  words  by  a  comparison 
of  different  passages,  and  to  interpret  authors  by  themselves." 

PAUL   It.   HEINTZEMANN,   PIUNTER,    BOSTON,    MASS. 
\ 


"...  So  each  study  In  Its  turn  can  give  rcasonawhvlt  should  be  cultivated  to  the  utmost. 
But  nil  these  very  arguments  are  met  by  an  unanswerable  fact,  that  our  that-  in  limiu-d.  It  I* 
not  possible  to  teach  boys  everything. 

"  If  it  IB  attempted,  tho  result  is  generally  a  superficial  knowledge  of  exceedingly  little 
value,  and  liable  to  the  great  moral  objection,  that  it  encourage*  conn-it  and  discourages  hard 
work.  A  boy  who  knows  the  general  principles  of  the  study,  without  knowing  lu  detail*, 
easily  get*  the  credit  of  knowing  much,  while  the  tent  of  putting  hi*  knowledge  to  am-  will 
quickly  prove  that  he  knows  very  little.  Meanwhile  he  acquires  a  distaste  for  the  dmdirery 
of  details,  without  which  drudgery  nothing  worth  doing  ever  yet  was  done."—  DR.  T£  Hl-LE'8 
Answer  to  Questions  of  the  Commimiiontrs  on  Public  Schools. 

"  If  we  are  to  choose  a  study  which  shall  pre-eminently  fit  a  man  for  life,  It  will  be  that 
which  shall  best  enable  him  to  cuter  into  the  thoughts,  the  fueling*,  the  motive*  of  ki«  fel- 
lows."—  Ibid. 

"  All  education  really  comes  from  intercourse  with  other  mind*.  The  desire  to  supply 
bodily  needs  and  to  get  bodily  comforts  would  prompt  even  a  solitary  human  being  (if  he  lived 
long  enough)  to  acquire  some  rude  knowledge  of  nature.  Butthls  would  not  make  him  more  of 
a  man.  That  which  supplies  the  perpetual  spur  to  the  whole  human  race  to  continue  inces- 
i-.-mtly  adding  to  our  Mores  of  knowledge;  that  which  retines  and  elevates,  and  does  not  edu- 
cate merely  the  moral,  nor  merely  the  intellectual  faculties,  but  tho  whole  man,  is  our  connec- 
tion with  each  other;  and  the  highest  study  is  that  which  most  promotes  this  connection,  by 
enlarging  its  sphere,  by  correcting  and  purifying  its  influences,  by  giving  perfect  and  pure 
models  of  what  ordinary  experience  can,  for  the  most  part,  show  only  in  adulterated  and  Im- 
perfect forms." — Ibid. 

"  Tho  classic  life  contains  precisely  tho  true  corrective  for  the  chief  defects  of  modern  life. 
The  classic  writers  exhibit  precisely  that  order  of  virtues  in  which  wo  are  apt  to  be  deficient. 
They  altogether  show  human  life  on  a  grander  scale,  with  less  benevolence,  but  more  patriot- 
ism ;  less  sentiment,  but  more  self-control ;  of  a  lower  average  of  virtue,  hut  more  striking 
individual  examples  of  it;  fewer  small  goodnesses,  but  more  greatness  and  appreciation  of 
greatness;  more  which  tends  to  exalt  the  imagination  and  inspire  high  conceptions  of  the 
capabilities  of  human  nature.  If,  as  every  one  must  see,  the  want  of  the  affinity  of  these 
studies  to  the  modern  mind  is  gradually  lowering  them  in  popular  estimation,  this  is  but  a 
confirmation  of  the  need  of  them,  and  renders  it  more  incumbent  on  those  who  have  tho 
power,  to  do  their  utmost  to  aid  in  preventing  their  decline."  —  JOHN  (STUART  MILL. 

"  "We  would  have  classics  and  logic  taught  far  more  really  and  deeply  than  at  present,  and 
would  ndd  to  them  other  studies  more  alien  than  any  which  yet  exist  to  the  •  business  of  the 
world,' but  more  germane  to  tho  great  business  of  every  rational  being — the  strengthening 
and  enlarging  of  hU  own  Intellect  and  character."  —  Ibid. 

"  In  nations  as  In  men,  in  intellect  as  in  social  condition,  true  nobility  consists  In  Inheriting 
what  is  best  in  the  possessions  and  character  of  a  line  of  ancestry.  Those  who  can  truce  tho 
descent  of  their  own  ideas  and  their  own  language  through  tho  race  of  cultivated  nations, 
who  can  show  that  those  whom  they  represent  or  reverence  as  their  parents  have  everywhere 
been  foremost  in  the  field  of  thought  and  intellectual  progress :  these  arc  the  truo  nobilitv  of 
the  world  of  mind:  the  persons  who  have  received  true  culture;  and  such  it  should  b« 
the  business  of  a  liberal  education  to  make  men."  —  ANON. 

"The  ancient  classics  would  not  be  worse,  but  belter  taught  In  the  highest  forms,  did  tho 
pupil  receive  a  more  general  culture  in  his  early  course."  —  1)R.  HOIXJHON,  "  Clamical  In- 
struction," an  Article  rtprinteil  from  the  Westminster  Review,  Oct.  18i3. 

"  It  Is  tho  oarly  age  at  which  classical  studies  are  begun  that,  rendering  the  work  nt  once 
tedious  and  unprofitable,  necessitates  so  terrible  an  expenditure  of  time,  and  prevents  their 
successf.il  prosecution.  Difllcultles  which  are  now  surmounted,  if  at  all,  with  infinite  labor 
and  many  tears;  details  which  are  now  mastered,  if  at  all,  by  children  who  can  have  but  little 
comprehension  of  their  meaning  and  purpose,  and  but  little  motive  to  mental  effort,  would 
afford  only  an  easy  and  pleasant  exercise  to  minds  more  mature  and  better  prepared." —  Ibid. 

•'  I  claim  for  the  study  of  physics  the  recognition  that  it  answers  to  an  Impulse  Implanted  by 
nature  in  the  human  constitution,  and  he  who  would  oppose  such  study  must  be  pr<  pared  to 
exhibit  the  credentials  which  authorize  him  to  contravene  nature's  manifest  design." —  On  M« 
Importtinrt  of  the  Study  of  1'hytict  ait  a  Branch  of  Education  for  alt  Ctaitei.  By  PRurt"- 
80R  TYNUALL. 

"  Leave  out  tho  physiological  sciences  from  your  curriculum,  and  you  launch  tho  student 
Into  the  world  undisciplined  In  that  science  whose  subject-matter  wo-.ild  best  develop  I  i« 
powers  of  observation;  Ignorant  of  facts  of  the  deepest  Impor'ance  for  his  own  and  oth«-r»' 
welfare;  blind  to  the  richest  sources  of  bennty  In  God's  creation;  and  unprovided  with  thnt 
belief  In  a  living  law,  and  an  order  manifesting  Itself  In  and  through  cndlrus  change  and 
variety,  which  might  serve  to  check  and  moderate  that  phase  of  despair  through  which.  If  he 
take  an  earnest  interest  in  social  problems,  he  will  nssuredlr.  foont-r  <  r  later,  pa-s."—  On  the 
Educational  Value  of  the  A'aturat  Ui*ttiry  Scit  nee*.  Byl'BnriMOB  T.  H.  llt'XLBY. 

"J'almeles sciences  mathcmatiqucs  et  physiques;  chaouno,  d'olles,  I'algebro,  la  rhlmlo,  la 
botknique,  est  une  belle  application  partielle  de  ('esprit  huinain  ;  l.m  I.tttrr*,  c'r»t  /V»/»rif  Ini- 
mime  ;  1'etude  des  lettres,  c'est  1'edncatlon  generale  qui  prepare  a  tout,  I't-ducnlloii  de  l'imc." 
—  Napoleon  I.,  quoted  by  DR.  HODGSON. 

"  Wenn  uns  unser  Schulunterricht  Immer  auf  dn»  Alterthum  hlnwelst,  das  Stndinm  drr 
griechisehen  und  latelnlschen  Spracbe  fordert,  so  konncn  wlr  uns  UlUck  wtln»chen,  da-» 
diese  zu  oiner  hdheren  Cultur  so  nothigen  sJtudlcn  nlemats  rlickganglg  werden."  —  UOETIIK 


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